Evenepoel Wins Tour Stage 16 by 28 Seconds as Pogacar's Lead Shrinks to 4:32

Q: Evenepoel won the stage, but did losing his top teammate just cost him the entire Tour de France?

Yes — it may not have cost Remco Evenepoel the Tour outright, but Florian Lipowitz’s withdrawal is a major blow that makes overturning Tadej Pogacar’s lead much harder. Evenepoel did exactly what he needed in Stage 16, winning the time trial and taking 28 seconds out of Pogacar. But he is still 4 minutes 32 seconds down with the hardest mountain stages still to come, including the final Alpine block and Alpe d’Huez. Against a rider of Pogacar’s level, that is still a very large deficit. What makes Lipowitz’s loss so damaging is not just his quality, but his role. He was not a routine helper; he was Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s co-leader, fifth overall before the crash, and a proven Grand Tour rider after finishing third in the 2025 Tour. His presence gave the team tactical depth: he could climb with the best, force rivals to react, help pace Evenepoel in the mountains, or serve as a second GC threat. That option is now gone. In practical terms, Evenepoel is more likely to be isolated when UAE Team Emirates-XRG applies pressure in the mountains. Pogacar still has a strong overall lead and a team structure better suited to defending it. Evenepoel can still win if he is exceptional in the final week and Pogacar shows weakness, but the margin for error is now much smaller. So the stage win kept Evenepoel alive in the race. Losing Lipowitz probably did not end his Tour on the spot, but it significantly reduced his chances of taking yellow.

Q: Was this a dominant victory for Evenepoel, or a strategic masterclass in damage control by the untouchable Tadej Pogacar?

It was both, but more clearly a dominant stage victory by Remco Evenepoel and a highly effective damage-limitation ride by Tadej Pogacar. Evenepoel did exactly what the stage demanded from a specialist of his caliber. On a 26.1km course that suited a pure time-trial expert, he was the heavy favorite and delivered decisively, winning in 32:19 at 48.45 km/h. He was fastest at every checkpoint, took his second straight stage, and beat Pogacar by 28 seconds. Against the rest of the field, the margin looked even stronger: Mattias Skjelmose in third was much further back, underlining that Evenepoel was operating on a different level in his discipline. At the same time, Pogacar’s ride was a textbook example of controlled damage control rather than weakness. He finished second on the stage, limited his loss to under half a minute against a three-time world time trial champion, and kept a commanding overall lead of 4 minutes 32 seconds. Given the Tour’s mountainous final week and his cushion in yellow, Pogacar had little need to take excessive risks for a stage win. So the result does not suggest Pogacar was exposed. It shows that Evenepoel was outstanding in his specialty, while Pogacar remained untouchable where it mattered most: the general classification. Evenepoel won the day emphatically; Pogacar still controls the race comfortably.

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jul 21

32 minutes 19 seconds gave Remco Evenepoel a dominant win in the 26.1km stage-16 time trial, trimming Tadej Pogacar's overall Tour de France lead by 28 seconds.
Pogacar finished in 32:47 and still leads the general classification by 4 minutes 32 seconds, with the rest of the field more than a minute behind and Mattias Skjelmose third on the stage.
A second straight stage victory for the 26-year-old Belgian came on Belgium's national day, making it his fourth Tour stage win overall after Sunday's mountain-stage triumph.
Florian Lipowitz's crash blunted the celebration for Evenepoel's team, with the German fifth overall before the stage forced to abandon after injuring his left arm.
The setback followed Jonas Vingegaard's exit two days earlier while second overall, further reshaping the race behind Pogacar as the Tour enters its final stretch.