Results Tour de France 2026 Stage 16 | Remco Evenepoel beats Tadej Pogacar in time trial as Florian Lipowitz crashes out
CyclingTuesday, 21 July 2026 at 17:50
Remco Evenepoel claimed back-to-back victories at the Tour de France by beating Tadej Pogacar in the stage 16 individual time trial from Evian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains.
The world champion completed the 26.1-kilometre course in 32 minutes and 19 seconds, finishing 28 seconds ahead of the yellow jersey after setting the fastest time across every section. Mattias Skjelmose took third at 1 minute and 4 seconds, while Florian Lipowitz’s Tour ended with a heavy crash on the technical descent.
Evenepoel’s victory reduced Pogacar’s general classification advantage by 28 seconds, although the Slovenian retained a commanding lead heading into the remaining Alpine stages.
Evenepoel takes control on opening climb
The course placed markedly different demands on the riders, beginning with the long rise towards the Côte de Larringes before a fast, technical descent and eight flatter kilometres beside Lake Geneva.
Evenepoel established his advantage almost immediately. He reached the opening checkpoint six seconds faster than Pogacar, having already swept aside the times set by Isaac del Toro, Paul Seixas and Skjelmose.
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The gap continued to grow on the climb. Evenepoel reached the summit 55 seconds faster than Skjelmose, with the remainder of the general classification contenders more than a minute behind.
Pogacar again proved the only rider capable of remaining within range. The yellow jersey limited his deficit to 14 seconds at the summit, keeping the stage victory open as the pair entered the descent.
Evenepoel had reconnoitred the technical section several times and committed fully once the road tipped downwards. He gained another second before the final intermediate checkpoint, carrying a 15-second advantage into the closing eight kilometres.
Pogacar briefly lost control of his rear wheel while correcting his line through one of the most dangerous bends but stayed upright. Evenepoel proved stronger again on the flatter finish, almost doubling his advantage before stopping the clock at 32:19.
Pogacar crossed the line in 32:47 to secure second place, while Skjelmose’s earlier time of 33:23 held up for third. Del Toro, who had provisionally occupied third before the final two riders finished, was pushed down to fourth.
Lipowitz’s Tour ends after heavy crash
The decisive duel unfolded against a far more serious development for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe.
Lipowitz missed a corner on the descent and was launched over his handlebars, landing heavily on his shoulder. He remained on the roadside for several minutes as the riders starting behind him passed the scene.
The German was eventually placed on a stretcher and taken away by ambulance, confirming his abandonment from the Tour.
Lipowitz had started the stage fifth overall, only 25 seconds behind Seixas, and had combined his own general classification campaign with support duties for Evenepoel. His exit left the team without its second rider near the top of the standings just as the race entered its final mountain block.
Pogacar later experienced his own scare at the same bend, correcting a sliding rear wheel before completing the descent without crashing.
Arensman loses leading time before leaving start ramp
Before the final contenders transformed the standings, Mattia Cattaneo had established the strongest early benchmark with a time of 34:01.
The Italian produced a balanced ride across the climb, descent and flat finish to beat Bruno Armirail by 13 seconds. Armirail had earlier removed Joshua Tarling from the hot seat after building most of his advantage on the Côte de Larringes.
Thymen Arensman appeared to have ridden faster than all three but lost his chance before he had properly begun. The Netcompany INEOS rider arrived late at the start ramp and set off approximately 13 seconds after his scheduled departure.
Arensman nevertheless finished only five seconds behind Cattaneo. His riding time without the delay would have placed him comfortably ahead, although the later performances of Skjelmose, Del Toro, Pogacar and Evenepoel would ultimately have denied him the stage victory.
Skjelmose became the first general classification rider to take control, beating Cattaneo by 38 seconds. Seixas followed 12 seconds slower before Del Toro moved provisionally into third behind the Dane.
Evenepoel then delivered the stage’s definitive performance. Twenty-four hours after winning stage 15, the Belgian completed a second consecutive victory and inflicted Pogacar’s first meaningful time loss of the final week, even as the yellow jersey retained control of the Tour.
Carlos Silva is a writer for CiclismoAtual.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he contributes race reports, interviews, analysis pieces, and live coverage of the international cycling calendar. Holding a degree in Sports from the Jean Piaget Institute, he combines academic knowledge of performance, training, and competition with hands-on journalism experience in professional cycling.
Throughout his career, Carlos has conducted interviews with leading figures in the sport, including Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodríguez, Óscar Pereiro, João Almeida, Isaac del Toro, Derek Gee, John Degenkolb and Geraint Thomas. These conversations reflect direct engagement with Grand Tour winners, Classics specialists, and emerging talents.
He has provided on-site coverage at major events ranging from the Vuelta a España to the Tour de France, alongside stage races such as Vuelta a Andalucía, Volta ao Algarve, Volta a Portugal and O Gran Camiño. Covering the mythical climbs of the Giro d'Italia remains one of his professional ambitions.
Carlos is responsible for liveblog coverage of all major WorldTour races and beyond, including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. His reporting integrates verified data from ProCyclingStats to ensure statistical accuracy, contextual depth, and analytical precision.
A lifelong cycling enthusiast, he approaches storytelling across written, photographic, and video formats with a focus on credibility, tactical insight, and informed race interpretation.
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- Goodness me, what a result. I wonder if Pog rode a bit slower to gift another stage to RE?
Andrew21-07-2026 - Don’t know about that specifically but usually if a moto makes it a bike can too.Jumpyjohn21-07-2026
- Thanks, Am a bit surprised to have just seen other valid and relevant Vaughters comments elsewhere (very much aligned with mine) that were not included here.Jumpyjohn21-07-2026
- Campy is not at fault, the race moto literally decided the path, you follow the race motos alwaysabstractengineer21-07-2026
- Just did a rough calculation without checking and came up with about 44.35km/h Which will obviously go down this week but we may still finish close to 43.Jumpyjohn21-07-2026
- They will probably get him, they are in the bidding and it makes sense for him to go there where he could have a year or two to develop.awp21-07-2026
- Ineos don’t deserve a rider like that. In it for the wrong reasons.Mistermaumau21-07-2026
- What are you on about? I was taking about UCI fines not fines given to the general public?? Where is the outlay not being worth it when a rider for instance is fined 500 CHF for not presenting a bike in time for inspection. Then a further 500 CHF for that riders DS for the same offence.Alex Baudin was fined 500 CHF for taking a feed on foot outside the designated feeding zone. His sports director, Charles Wegelius, was also fined 500 CHF. Easy money I would say for minimal outlay!Cyclingsbestfan21-07-2026
- 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
- Considering the level of superstardom he has achieved he remains remarkably down to earth and comes across as an all round pretty good person.mobk21-07-2026
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