Tour de France 2025: Evenepoel Beats Pogacar in Stage 16 Time Tri 2026

The Tour de France 2025 delivered another thrilling chapter as Remco Evenepoel claimed victory in stage 16, a time trial from Evian to Thonon-les-Bains, beating Tadej Pogacar by 28 seconds and reducing the Slovenian's overall lead to just over four and a half minutes.

Evenepoel's Dominance in the Time Trial

The Olympic road and time trial champion, now second overall in the Tour, secured his third career Tour time trial win on the Belgian national day. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on this level so it feels amazing to be in this good shape in the Tour,” Evenepoel said. He described Pogacar as a “superstar” and warned, “It’s not over yet. There are still some hard stages to come.”

Pogacar's Lead Under Pressure

Tadej Pogacar, wearing the yellow jersey, still holds a commanding advantage, but Evenepoel's back-to-back wins have injected new energy into the race. Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG) remains in third place, but Paul Seixas is just 20 seconds away from a podium spot after gaining time on the Mexican rider in the time trial.

Crash Forces Lipowitz Out

Evenepoel’s success was tempered by the loss of his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate, Florian Lipowitz, who crashed on a tight right-hand bend while exiting a downhill section. The 2025 Tour podium finisher from last year was carried off on a stretcher and later confirmed to have a broken collarbone. He became the second podium finisher—after Jonas Vingegaard on Sunday—to leave the race within 72 hours.

Night-Time Doping Tests Spark Controversy

While the race continued, the debate over the ITA drug testing agency’s nocturnal activities intensified. Vingegaard and Pogacar received surprise visits at 2am and 5am respectively last Sunday, outside the usual testing window of 6am to 11pm. The tests were authorized by the Paris prosecutor’s office, but have been heavily criticized by team managers. Jonathan Vaughters, manager of the EF Education EasyPost team, noted, “With a French judge it’s not going to be hard to get that warrant. They’re going to look at the history of the sport.”

Stage 16 Time Trial Results Comparison

Key Takeaways from Stage 16

• Evenepoel wins back-to-back stages, cutting Pogacar's lead to 4:30.
• Florian Lipowitz crashes out with a broken collarbone.
• Night-time doping tests on Vingegaard and Pogacar spark debate.
• Paul Seixas closes in on a podium position.
• The Tour continues with challenging mountain stages ahead.

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