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Evenepoel Wins Stage 16 TT, Cuts Pogacar Lead

7/22/2026

Summary

Evenepoel Wins

Remco Evenepoel (world time-trial champion) won Stage 16 time trial on 21 July 2026 in 32 min 19 s, cutting Tadej Pogacar’s lead by 28 s.
Evenepoel’s win marked his second consecutive stage victory and third straight Tour time-trial win.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) finished second, keeping a 4 min 32 s overall advantage with five stages left.
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) placed third, 1 min 04 s behind Evenepoel.
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) crashed on a right-hand bend, injured his shoulder and withdrew, ending his fifth-place GC spot.

Summary

Officials Test Teams

Anti-doping officials performed tests on Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe, Soudal-Quick Step, Alpecin-Premier Tech, Astana and rider Paul Seixas Monday night.
The 26.1-km time trial from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains includes a 9.6-km climb at 4.2 % gradient with 500 m gain, a 1.5-km plateau with cross-winds, and a descent with strong gusts and 90-degree turns in five kilometres.
Florian Lipowitz crashed on slippery asphalt during 90-degree turns, which Evenepoel called “more treacherous than the descent itself.”

History

Historical Context

In July 1998 French police seized doping products from Festina soigneur Willy Voet, prompting the team’s expulsion and a two-week Tour suspension. The scandal forced the UCI to tighten testing, helped create WADA in December 1999, and later analysis found 44 of 60 1998 samples positive for EPO. Current checks on Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe reflect those reforms.

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Evenepoel Wins

Remco Evenepoel (world time-trial champion) won Stage 16 time trial on 21 July 2026 in 32 min 19 s, cutting Tadej Pogacar’s lead by 28 s.
Evenepoel’s win marked his second consecutive stage victory and third straight Tour time-trial win.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) finished second, keeping a 4 min 32 s overall advantage with five stages left.
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) placed third, 1 min 04 s behind Evenepoel.
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) crashed on a right-hand bend, injured his shoulder and withdrew, ending his fifth-place GC spot.

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