Remco Evenepoel secured victory in the stage 16 time trial, traveling from Evian to Thonon-les-Bains and defeating Tadej Pogacar by 28 seconds. The Belgian competitor, who holds Olympic road and time trial titles, now sits second overall in the general classification. His triumph on the Belgian national day reduced Pogacar’s advantage to just over four and a half minutes. Evenepoel noted feeling strong during the race and acknowledged further challenging stages remained ahead.
The stage result saw shifts in the podium positions. Isaac del Toro, Pogacar’s teammate at UAE Emirates XRG, retained third place overall, though his position became less secure. Paul Seixas moved closer to a top-three finish, closing to within 20 seconds of del Toro after gaining time in the time trial.
Evenel’s gains came amid a significant setback for his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team. Florian Lipowitz, who finished third in the previous year’s Tour, abandoned the race following a crash. The incident occurred on a tight right-hand bend while descending, resulting in a broken collarbone and requiring stretcher assistance. Lipowitz became the second podium finisher from the previous Tour to withdraw in a 72-hour span, following Jonas Vingegaard’s departure.
Off the road, the controversy surrounding out-of-competition drug testing continued to dominate discussion. The ITA drug testing agency conducted nocturnal tests on both Vingegaard and Pogacar, with visits occurring at 2am and 5am respectively. While authorized by the Paris prosecutor’s office, the testing practices drew criticism. Team manager Jonathan Vaughters defended the ITA’s approach, noting that obtaining judicial warrants may not require high evidentiary standards. However, Pascal Chanteur from the professional riders association questioned whether a non-specialist judge possessed sufficient expertise to properly authorize such procedures.
The underlying tension centers on compliance with French sports code requirements mandating proportionality between athlete rights and anti-doping objectives. Results from both tests remained unavailable, leaving the race proceedings in an unusual state of uncertainty as competition continued and Pogacar approached a potential record-equalling fifth Tour victory.
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