"We finally got some spice" - Bakelants believes Remco Evenepoel's resurrection could be the turning point of this Tour
CyclingTuesday, 21 July 2026 at 06:00
That the fifteenth stage of 2026 Tour de France would be crucial was certainly the race organizers' intention, but most likely in the way they have imagined. Jonas Vingegaard's crash and subsequent abandon however gave rise to Remco Evenepoel's resurrection in the general classification and the Belgian suddenly seems set for a podium result after his Plateau de Solaison victory.
Although Evenepoel was definitely stronger than in his 2025 appearance, the Olympic champion did not strike with his early-race climbing performances. On Col du Tourmalet, he had to limit losses in descent. Same story in Le Lioran and in Le Markstein.
This tendency is what made his surge on Solaison so unlikely to ex-professional Jan Bakelants. "To be honest, I didn't see this one coming," he begins his analysis for HLN.
And although Evenepoel suddenly sits in a very comfortable position as yellow jersey runner-up ahead of Tuesday's time trial, Bakelants does not really see a way for the Belgian to threaten Pogacar. Especially uphill. "I wouldn't immediately declare Evenepoel a threatening competitor for Tadej Pogacar in all the remaining mountain stages."
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Pogacar is still in the driving seat
While it is true that Evenepoel did defeat Tadej Pogacar head on in the most recent stage, Bakelants reminds that the Slovenian was probably not looking to win for himself. Instead, he invested extra energy to assist teammate Isaac del Toro in climbing onto the provisional podium as Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz both lost a good minute.
"The yellow jersey wearer still took a very conservative and controlling approach and was more concerned with a potential stage win for Isaac Del Toro than with himself. But while he executed that plan for his teammate, he did crack the rest," the explanation goes.
Evenepoel seemed convincing in the sprint, but it looked as though Pogacar did not really go all-out in the last hundreds of meters: "Of course, Evenepoel won somewhat by the grace of Pogacar," Bakelants concludes.
Of course the main victory of stage 15 for Evenepoel was to finally reaffirm himself about his own level. And, as a consequence, to move up the overall standings.
Tadej Pogacar setting pace on stage 15
"But that [victory] doesn't really matter in this case, because he beat his direct general classification rivals fair and square. That is going to give the public a huge boost of confidence."
Tour upside down
Suddenly, we have a completely different race situation on our plate. UAE still hold all the trump cards. But they're main challengers are no longer Visma; rather Red Bull. In particular in case that Evenepoel manages to reduce his gap in the upcoming ride against the clock.
And then we have riders who might attack from far out who sit in the overall top-10 at the moment; Lidl-Trek duo Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose, Lenny Martinez, and more.
"Up until now, this race unfolded according to the pattern perfectly predicted beforehand. With an unassailable Pogacar, a very strong Vingegaard firmly in second place, and behind them a group of riders who were evenly matched and in which no one surpassed themselves. Fixed dynamics that seemed set in stone. Which made it somewhat boring."
According to Bakelants, that is no longer the case. "Thanks to Remco, we finally got some spice. He made it by far the most exciting stage so far."
Remco Evenepoel celebrates stage 15 of the Tour de France 2026.
Vingegaard's crash did not change anything
The stage finale might've been different with Jonas Vingegaard still in the race. The Dane definitely seemed to be preparing for an offensive. Whilst Pogacar appeared strong enough to be able to counter any attack, Evenepoel might've found a harder time keeping up if the two men went truly all-out.
Although Bakelants disagrees:
"I think Remco could have kept up with the Dane as well," is his conclusion.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- INEOS is getting worse. Not a top dog anymore.
KerisVroom21-07-2026 - They are testing but are they Lance era testing or active testing. Lance era was "oh, looks a bit high but he is a big drawl...it's fine". Active is, positive pull them out of the race and banmd197521-07-2026
- it hinders recover if you're using epo for recoverywhkman21-07-2026
- Success usually corrupts and makes one arrogant. This is very impressive.KerisVroom21-07-2026
- Marc Reef: We had the race in our hands, and we were ready to give it a shot with him We had the race in our hands? Someone else needs to be tested for something else with this comment. Jonas was barely top 5 the day prior.mij21-07-2026
- this is a ridiculous comment, no basis behind this.mij21-07-2026
- The article states, "The judge, according to the sports code, must verify that there are "serious and consistent suspicions" that the specific riders have violated anti-doping rules or could do so". Since only Pogacar and Jonas were tested, I would like to know what was the serious and consistent suspicion that made them the subject of the testing? For context, several riders broke the time record on the Tourmalet and the Peleton has broken some long standing average speed records. No reason to just suspect the two of them.
PogiFan2Day21-07-2026 - vaughters is right it adds credibility if the riders pass the tests. record speeds in record heat doesn't add credibility. beating your own time up tourmalet by 2.5 minutes from 3 years ago doesn't add credibility.whkman21-07-2026
- It's good to read a calm, sensible comment for a change. Unlike many of the usual contributors here, who just post heated nonsense and blindly affirm or deny things like true believers.hb5012521-07-2026
- Kudos to Mom & Dad.
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