“I almost crashed as well” – Tadej Pogacar reveals near miss after Remco Evenepoel wins Tour de France time trial
CyclingTuesday, 21 July 2026 at 18:37
Tadej Pogacar has revealed that he narrowly avoided crashing at the same corner that ended Florian Lipowitz’s Tour de France during the stage 16 individual time trial. Pogacar made it safely through the decisive moment, but had to settle for defeat as Remco Evenepoel delivered a commanding ride to take the stage victory.
Evenepoel’s performance denied the UAE Team Emirates – XRG leader another win, although Pogacar still emerged with a general classification advantage of around four and a half minutes. Rather than chase every second once victory began to slip away, the yellow jersey decided the risks were no longer worth taking on the descent.
Pogacar backs off after Evenepoel gains 15 seconds
Pogacar remained in contention during the opening part of the time trial, but reached the top of the climb around 15 seconds behind Evenepoel. With the Belgian proving the stronger rider against the clock, Pogacar adjusted his approach for the remainder of the course.
“It was a good day. I was a little disappointed to be around 15 seconds behind Remco at the top of the climb,” he admitted. “I thought: ‘Okay, I’m not taking any risks to the finish.’”
That decision looked particularly sensible after Pogacar revealed how close he had already come to hitting the ground. The Slovenian struggled to judge his line through the corner where Lipowitz crashed, having found his view partially obscured during the earlier course reconnaissance.
“At one corner, I think where Lipowitz crashed, there were some organisation cars there during the recon and I didn’t see the line properly,” Pogacar explained. “I almost crashed as well.”
Lipowitz’s fall forced the Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe rider to abandon the Tour, bringing a painful end to his general classification challenge. Pogacar was quick to express his concern for the German after completing his own ride.
“I hope Florian Lipowitz is okay and recovers quickly. It is sad to see another general classification contender out of the race.”
“Bravo to him” – Pogacar salutes Evenepoel
Pogacar had started the day hoping to add another stage victory to his Tour tally, but could have few complaints after being beaten by one of the world’s outstanding time trial specialists.
“Obviously, I wanted to go for the victory, but Remco is a world champion, Olympic champion and European time trial champion,” he said. “Bravo to him! What a great achievement.”
The result left Pogacar in a commanding position overall, with approximately four and a half minutes separating him from his nearest challenger. Even so, he refused to treat the yellow jersey as secure with another week of racing and three major mountain stages still to come.
“This isn’t over. It is still not over and we still have a week ahead of us,” Pogacar warned. “The advantage is good, but you never know what can happen in a single day. Let’s approach the weekend with confidence and see what happens.”
Evenepoel may have claimed the stage and Lipowitz’s crash provided a sharp reminder of how quickly a Tour can change, but Pogacar remains firmly in control of the race heading into its final mountain battles.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- So a Dutch guy says something in not his native language, and people jump in as hard as they can to slaughter him! If everything that comes out of our mouths is dissected like this, we’d all constantly be looking like idiots. I’d be pretty certain he’s not claiming or imagining they were in control of the winning of the race, and I’d just cut him some slack!AndrewK21-07-2026
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