"I even considered trying to follow Tadej" - Remco Evenepoel dropped, but ends up dropping Jonas Vingegaard
CyclingTuesday, 14 July 2026 at 19:32
In the results sheet, Remco Evenepoel can certainly argue that he's had his best day so far at the Tour de France. On the road it was a brutal one, where he struggled, but with time gain in the end to Jonas Vingegaard and his direct rivals.
The best Evenepoel so far this Tour?
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe knew they had a difficult day on the Massif Central awaiting them, with Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz teaming up on a more explosive finale than that of stage 6 in the Pyrenees. The team as a collective didn't have much support for their leaders in the finale, but that wasn't necessary in the backdrop of UAE Team Emirates - XRG's work.
On the Col de Pertus, Tadej Pogacar launched his attack. Evenepoel was in the chasing group following Jonas Vingegaard. But everyone was on the limit. "There was a lot of pain going through my head, so there was not much room for thinking," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview. "I just kept pushing and that was the right choice. I struggled for two or three minutes, but in the end I still finished second."
On the final categorized climb of the day, he started off in front, aiming to still catch Tadej Pogacar. "There were some accelerations and annoying changes of pace. That was difficult, especially because I had just moved to the front. We wanted to ride as hard as possible to bring Tadej back, but I think he still had something left for the final three kilometres."
He was hampered by cramps. The last climb of the day was certainly a difficult moment on a day where he overall felt quite well. "On the hardest climb I was still near the front and for a moment I even considered trying to follow Tadej. Uphill, I certainly do not think I am any worse than I used to be."
Remco Evenepoel at the 2026 Tour de France
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Evenepoel hopes for criticism to stop in Belgium
On the Col de Font de Cère, Evenepoel wanted an ideal cooperation in the group, but once again he did not have it. "We did not get much help from those Lidl-Trek riders again," he pointed out. However, the mood was not the same as in stage where he lashed out on his teammate Florian Lipowitz.
Evenepoel was dropped due to the danger of cramps, but it was not a moment of body weakness. "Maybe I should have pushed through to stay in the wheel because I remained at roughly the same distance for quite a while," he said. On the descent the Belgian regained his place in the group, and the best of the day was yet to come.
With Jonas Vingegaard dropping and Florian Lipowitz leading, Evenepoel found the perfect scenario, sprinting to a second place that looked tremendously strong. "I saved some energy by sitting at the back and then went with 250 metres to go. I remembered the sprint from last year (correction: two years ago, ed.) and knew it was better to start early if I wanted to create a gap. That worked."
At the line, 12 seconds on the road and 6 in bonifications to gain on the struggling Vingegaard, but also a few to several other direct rivals.
"I hope we do not get the typically Belgian reaction of only looking for the negative," Evenepoel stated, at the end of a performance that left him in third place when it comes to the overall classification. We should mainly be positive after today. I feel that I recover quite easily from hard efforts."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- But he caught him didn’t he ?vaughanstar14-07-2026
- Remco doesn’t even seem to be the top rider on his own squad. He’ll probably lose his composure again, and if I were Red Bull, I’d let him go after that and put the money into strong support riders for Lipo (I admit that this point of view obviously ignores remco's strength in the classics). Both of them often end up riding on their own, with no teammates around them, while Pogacar always has riders like Politt, McNulty, Del Toro, Yates, and others backing him up. That kind of support is something Lipowitz can only wish for.Ketterechts14-07-2026
- Interview with Tadej Pogačar by a Slovenian TV reporter after the stage: Reporter: Did everything go according to plan? It looked like you were riding for the stage win from the start. Tadej Pogačar: To be honest, the plan was a bit different. We wanted to set a really hard pace all the way to the final climb and then try something with Isaac. But in the end, the stage was so tough and the heat was so intense that things unfolded differently. We rode the penultimate climb at a really high pace, and you could see everyone's legs were already cooked. I attacked, saw that I had a gap, and decided to commit all the way to the finish. I thought, if I blow up, I blow up; if not, it'll pay off. Fortunately, it worked out. Reporter: When you bridged across to Carapaz and then found yourself alone, did you believe you could stay away? Tadej Pogačar: Yes, I did. I knew there was a tailwind on the final climb, which suited me perfectly.Ketterechts14-07-2026
- Remco is showing what I said he may before the race started. IF he has dialed in training and altitude, he could finish top 3 (4th to 5th at worst). As for Jonas he never regained his look of how he rode pre crash. I said before the race he may have to really fight to stand on the podium. It is starting to look like that no question. Lipowitz, Sexis and (shocking) Remco have been as good at times on climbs thus far. And I won't count out IDT unless he cracks very badly in the next week or so. Might be the year of the new podium positions, except Pogi who seems to have won already if he has no illness or fall. Curious, anyone else seeing the look on Jonas face? Kind of reminds me of when Lance was winning everything. Everyone else just had a look that said "Why bother to go after him? I can't beat him...better conserve energy for the 2nd and 3rd (at best) places. Seeing I can't win" I saw that look the other day. Pogi took off and Jonas didn't try to do much. I saw a few hard cranks and then he looked up and didn't seem to try. His face didn't look confident but rather defeated.md197514-07-2026
- I think Valgren was spot on. Jonas struggling now. Pogi is getting a lot of stick for making it look like an unfair advantage he has.Jerrychicken14-07-2026
- Apt comparison👌🤣abstractengineer14-07-2026
- No he just wants to win a lot of stages especially since UAE have to do the work and he can easily win. He did the same in the Giro where there was no Jonasabstractengineer14-07-2026
- Carpaz jumped and that slightly messed his plans up, but on the next to last climb he had Yates up there and I saw him reset his computer, which meant he was about to go.awp14-07-2026
- The germans are far worse than the french. Have you never been to a Tour?awp14-07-2026
- i was considering challenging mike tyson ...Ketterechts14-07-2026
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