Remco Evenepoel settles for third place at Tour de France: "If the Tour ended now, that would be fine too"
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel and his team, Soudal Quick-Step, achieved their goal on stage 16 of the Tour de France in Nîmes. Wearing the white jersey and in third place overall, the Belgian declared that the job was done. Although he wanted to leave immediately, he had to give a brief interview after the finish.
"The stage started with a lot of wind, but then the intensity decreased, which made it almost a rest day," said the Soudal Quick-Step team leader. "I was on the wheel of Yves Lampaert the whole time, who did his job perfectly by keeping me well positioned and out of trouble. That was the only important thing."
The next two days will take the peloton into the Alps, and with what still lies ahead, Evenepoel seems to want to play it safe. "I think the breakaways will have room twice, so in a way it will be calmer for us," the 24-year-old indicated.
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Evenepoel also looked ahead to the difficult final weekend that awaits the peloton at the Tour de France. "I'm keeping an eye on the riders behind me, because I want to keep my place on the podium. I think I can take a more defensive approach, but something more could still be possible. After all, I have a good margin. But if the Tour were to end now, that would also be fine with me."
The Belgian continues to race a perfect Tour de France which is now likely to end in a podium, as long as he is able to avoid major cracks on the stages going up to Isola 2000 mainly, but also the Col de la Couillole on Saturday. Soudal - Quick-Step will have Mikel Landa protect him if necessary in the toughest moments which may come on the brutal 19th day of racing, but also Ilan van Wilder who is on rising form.
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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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- Mathieu and Wout!!! You must start in CX this winter! (hope you reading comments here...) ;-)averagecyclist12-11-2026
- Who made you site boss?Lozza12-11-2026
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- Bingo...I was also going to say that young pretty women are obsessed Pogi fan girls... who are chasing him. All glossy "____" (blank) about Tadej. PS: You can all fill in the "blank" yourselves, whatever you prefer. The definition of glossy is: It looks unusually shiny, glazed over, watery, or vacant/unfocused.PogiSloFans12-11-2026
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❤️ Like if you think @EvenepoelRemco is the best baller in this years @tourdetietema challenge in @LeTour!
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