Remco Evenepoel, the time trial world champion, secured victory in the Tour de France stage 16 individual time trial. This win marks his second consecutive stage victory, following his success in stage 15 on Sunday. The stage, which took place on Tuesday, saw Evenepoel complete the 26.1-kilometre course in 32 minutes and 19 seconds.
His performance allowed him to reduce Tadej Pogačar’s overall lead by 28 seconds. Evenepoel’s time was notably faster than the previous quickest, set by Mattias Skjelmose, by more than a minute. Pogačar finished with the second-best effort of the day.
The stage, the only individual time trial of this year’s Tour, commenced in Évian-les-Bains and concluded in Thonon-les-Bains, alongside Lake Geneva. The course featured a 16.4-kilometre climb up the category two Côte de Larringes, followed by a technical descent before a flat section leading to the finish line.
Despite Evenepoel’s victory, the day was marked by an unfortunate incident involving his teammate, Florian Lipowitz. Lipowitz crashed out of the race after his wheel slipped on a sharp bend near the finish. He slid across the road and hit the sidewalk kerb, sustaining what appeared to be a shoulder injury, which prevented him from continuing. Evenepoel expressed his well wishes for Lipowitz, noting the bittersweet nature of his victory.
Course Details and Early Performances
The stage’s route, stretching 26.1 kilometres, was designed to challenge riders with both an uphill section from the start in Évian-les-Bains and the Côte de Larringes, a 9.7-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 4.3%. Following the climb, a tricky descent led to the Lake Geneva shoreline in Thonon-les-Bains.
Early in the stage, Josh Tarling of Netcompany-Ineos set the quickest time, clocking 34 minutes and 21 seconds. His teammate, Filippo Ganna, also a time trial specialist, finished four seconds behind Tarling. Huub Artz of Lotto-Intermarche held the third position on the provisional podium.
Other riders showed strong early performances. Bruno Armirail of Visma Lease-a-Bike was 19 seconds quicker than Tarling at the time check at the top of the Côte de Larringes. Mattia Cattaneo of Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe also demonstrated significant speed, holding a nine-second advantage over Armirail at the one-kilometre mark and ultimately finishing with a 13-second lead over Armirail, averaging 46 km/h. Pablo Castrillo, the Spanish time trial champion from Movistar, also posted a quicker time than Cattaneo at the second checkpoint.
Challenges and Setbacks
The technical nature of the course presented difficulties for several riders. Lipowitz’s crash was a notable incident, as he had been performing well before his fall. Pogačar also experienced a wobble at the same corner where Lipowitz crashed but managed to recover and continue his race.
Thymen Arensman faced an unfortunate delay at the start gate, which reportedly cost him as much as ten seconds. Despite this, he was only a second off Cattaneo’s time through the third checkpoint. Juan Ayuso of Lidl-Trek experienced significant time loss during the stage, with his lead over teammate Skjelmose nearly halved.
In the mountains classification, Valentin Paret-Peintre of Soudal-Quick-Step, who was wearing the polkadot jersey, focused on collecting points on the Côte de Larringes. He was among the riders taking points in the mountains classification, alongside Castrillo, Felix Grossschartner, Cattaneo, and Arensman.
The race is scheduled to conclude on July 26 in Paris.
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Source: theguardian.com
