"You have to understand I’m racing against the best cyclist in history" - Remco Evenepoel over the moon with first Tour de France mountain stage win
CyclingSunday, 19 July 2026 at 18:30
Remco Evenepoel experienced one of the most special days of his career on Sunday. The Belgian from Red Bull outsprinted Tadej Pogacar at the end of stage 15 of the Tour de France 2026, taking his first high‑mountain stage win against the GC favourites and confirming the major step up he has made in this Grande Boucle.
As soon as he crossed the line, the world champion couldn’t hold back his emotions. “It’s incredible, I’m literally shaking with excitement. It was a brutal day. Early on I felt really bad, but little by little I started to feel better as the stage went on," he said in a post-race interview.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike controlled much of the stage, but after Jonas Vingegaard's crash and withdrawal, it was Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe who took up the pace in the peloton. First it was to control Tom Pidcock's breakaway, but then it also became apparent that Evenepoel was on a great day.
The Olympic Champion was the only rider who came in the way of absolute domination by UAE Team Emirates - XRG, who had Tadej Pogacar pace Isaac del Toro up the Plateau de Solaison.
Evenepoel underlined the level he had to reach to beat the yellow jersey. “You have to understand I’m racing against the best cyclist in history. It’s a brutal climb and for me it’s already a big step forward to have matched that pace. The tempo was completely crazy.”
The Belgian also took the chance to answer those who doubted his high‑mountain ability, a criticism that has followed him for much of his career.
“I always get criticised that I can’t handle these really hard climbs. That’s why it makes me very happy to have trusted myself. It’s a kind of revenge and it means a lot to me.”
For the first time in his career, Remco Evenepoel directly beat Tadej Pogacar in a mountain stage at the Tour de France
Read also
A climb Evenepoel knew like the back of his hand
Evenepoel explained he knew the ascent to Plateau de Solaison perfectly after training there many times, which allowed him to pick the perfect moment to launch his decisive move.
“I’ve done efforts on this climb about twenty times during training camps. Isaac del Toro attacked several times and the last one was the perfect moment to set up the sprint and go all‑in to the line.”
Despite already having a palmarès full of Monuments, world titles and major victories, Evenepoel admitted this triumph occupies a very special place.
“I’ve won many important races, but the Tour is different. It’s very hard to win here, especially with riders like Tadej and Jonas in front of you. Every chance has to be grabbed with both hands.”
“It’s my first mountain stage win arriving with the GC group. It shows I’ve taken a step forward and now I hope to keep this level through the entire final week. This is a very, very special victory.”
Evenepoel comments on Jonas Vingegaard's crash
The win also came on a day marked by Jonas Vingegaard’s withdrawal after a serious crash, news the Belgian deeply regretted before refocusing on the race.
“It’s really bad news for him, for his team and also for the race. You never wish that on anyone. After that you have to switch back on and try to make the most of the situation.”
The victory also allowed Evenepoel to open significant gaps on several GC rivals.
One of Evenepoel's finest climbs of his career, it was enough to, on the line, beat Tadej Pogacar. With this, he also moves up to second place in the overall classification; and has simultaneously put on a ride that confirms he is Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's best option to finish on the podium of the Tour.
“Taking the stage ahead of Tadej and Isaac and also putting good time into the rest is incredible. Now we have the rest day and on Tuesday there’s a nice time trial where I’ll try to fight for another win.”
The Belgian said he is finding his best sensations precisely at the Tour de France.
“It’s incredible that I’m finding my best legs during this Tour. I hope to recover well to tackle the final week because this isn’t over yet," he concluded.
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.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I'm pleasantly surprised with your change of tone on Jonas.
KerisVroom20-07-2026 - This is the abuse of the discretion provided by the regulations, which establish a 12-hour time frame. An athlete has the right to rest. Testing should be avoided between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. This is utter French BS. Believe me, they don't knock on the doors of basketball players, footballers, or track and field athletes at 2:00 a.m. to test them. First the booing... second the waking up of Pogi and Vinnie... what's coming next? French haters spitting... throwing urine at Pogi and Jonas, pushing them off the bike etc. etc.???mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales20-07-2026
- No, my "god" was not beaten. Every single podcast I've watched (Laterne Rouge, WEDU-with Spencer Marin and Johan Bruyneel, Escape Collective, Chris Horner, Beyond the Podium and the TNT Sports Studio, said: "Pogi didn't even try to win. Del Toro got the white jersey, moved up in the standings and that was enough for Pogi. Capish, Pogi hater???mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales20-07-2026
- I agree. Hope Jonas recovers soon, the show with Pogi must go on :))mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales20-07-2026
- great comments by Jonas, he is always classymij20-07-2026
- Oh dear. If you know when checks will be, you adapt your schedule. Hopefully they learnt from the Armstrong era, and replaced anyone suspected of sending out warnings.Jumpyjohn20-07-2026
- Exactly. Sweating and urinating are the fastest mechanisms for something in blood and those take 1-4 hrs. So check at 10pm and again check at 6 am. Its easy to catchabstractengineer20-07-2026
- Most recently on Stage 2.Hills3320-07-2026
- The tour organizers screw up again. It was a fast part of the course, a sudden turn. No warning. Only the first few riders would have been able to know it was coming . At this point I believe they want crashes to happencaptmike20-07-2026
- Shhhh, let people have fun 😉 You have fun tooKerisVroom20-07-2026
Loading
2 Comments