Remco Evenepoel Wins Tour de France Stage 16 Time-Trial to Cut Pogacar Lead

Remco Evenepoel gains 28 seconds on Tadej Pogacar in the general classification

Evenepoel’s Time-Trial Performance and General Classification Impact

Remco Evenepoel, the world and Olympic time-trial champion, secured his second consecutive stage victory of the 2026 Tour de France on Tuesday. Racing along the shores of Lake Geneva from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains, the 26-year-old Belgian finished the 26.1km course in 32 minutes and 19 seconds. This performance followed his triumph on the mountainous 15th stage held on Sunday.

The win allowed Evenepoel to trim 28 seconds off the overall lead held by four-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar. While Pogacar remains in the yellow jersey, his advantage in the general classification is now 4 minutes and 32 seconds. This stage marked Evenepoel’s fourth career Tour de France stage win and his third victory in an individual time-trial.

The route’s profile played a significant role in the time gaps. The course included the Côte de Larringes, a 9.7km climb with a 4.3% gradient, followed by a fast and technical descent towards Lake Léman, and concluding with eight flat kilometers. Evenepoel established his dominance early, leading Pogacar by seven seconds at the first intermediate checkpoint at kilometer 4.8, and extending that to 14 seconds by the top of the Côte de Larringes. While Pogacar managed to stay within reach during the technical descent, even correcting his trajectory after his rear wheel slipped on a turn, Evenepoel gained additional time during the final eight kilometers of flat terrain to cross the finish line 28 seconds ahead of the Slovenian.

For more on this story, see Tour de France Drama: Florian Lipowitz Crashes Out as Remco Evenepoel Wins Time Trial.

Florian Lipowitz crashes out of the Tour de France on the technical descent

Florian Lipowitz Withdraws After Crash

The stage was marred by the withdrawal of Florian Lipowitz, a rider for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe who had been sitting in fifth place overall. The German rider had set the fourth fastest time in the three intermediate time-checks before he lost control of his bike on the technical descent following the Côte de Larringes. Several minutes after he went down hard on a bend, Lipowitz was escorted to a medical vehicle holding his left arm.

That's very unfortunate, it's like a bitter-sweet pill to swallow with this victory, so I wish him all the best and I hope it's not too bad, Evenepoel

Pogacar also commented on the incident, noting that he had observed Lipowitz’s consistent performance throughout the race, including his ride in April’s Tour of Romandie. He's been riding super solid and (the) third week I think would suit him really well, Pogacar said. He's a good kid, Florian. I'm sad to see him leave the tour. I hope he can recover fast and wish him the best.

This follows our earlier report, Florian Lipowitz Forced to Withdraw from Tour de France After Severe Crash; Evenepoel Wins Stage 16.

Mattias Skjelmose, Paul Seixas, and Isaac del Toro battle for the final podium spot

Podium Contenders and Emerging Standings

Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek secured third place on the stage, finishing 1 minute and 4 seconds behind Evenepoel. The performance helped Skjelmose regain ground in the overall standings. The battle for the third spot on the general classification podium remains highly competitive between Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro.

Remco Evenepoel celebrates his stage victory on Belgium’s national holiday

Seixas finished fourth on the stage, 1 minute and 16 seconds off the winning pace, while Del Toro took fifth, 1 minute and 21 seconds back. This result narrows the gap between the two riders in the general classification to just 20 seconds. Del Toro currently holds the white jersey, and Evenepoel has now extended his lead over Del Toro to more than two minutes in the general standings.

Read also: Tour de France 2024: Pogacar Extends Lead as Skujiņš and Neilands Navigate Stage 13.

Evenepoel, reflecting on the day, noted the significance of winning on Belgium’s national holiday. It's amazing, it was a very nice time-trial with a lot of people on the side of the road, Evenepoel said. I read this morning it's been a while since Belgium won on national day, so I'm proud to be the one. My whole family from both sides being here, my parents came just today. My wife is here with her parents and the siblings as well.

Sources: BBC, Yahoo.