Tuesday, July 21st, 16th stage: Évian-les-Bains > Thonon-les-Bains– Remco Evenepoel was far from done with his historic victory at the Plateau de Solaison on Sunday. After he claimed Belgium’s 500th Tour de France stage win, the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe star delivered a masterclass in the 26.1 km individual time trial between Évian-les-Bains and Thonon-les-Bains. This is the tenth Belgian stage win on their national day, the first since Rudy Matthijs won on the Champs-Élysées on 21 July 1985! Just like on Sunday, Evenepoel got the better of Tadej Pogacar to take a third ITT stage win in as many editions of the Tour, following previous successes in Gevrey-Chambertin (2024) and Caen (2025). In the battle for the podium, Paul Seixas(Decathlon CMA CGM) gained a handful of seconds but Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG) remains in third place. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) abandoned after a crash.
The final week of the 2026 Tour de France began with a decisive test: a 26.1-kilometer individual time trial between Évian-les-Bains and Thonon-les-Bains. Following the opening team time trial in Barcelona, it was the only individual race against the clock of this edition. The course favored the discipline’s specialists but demanded versatility, featuring a sustained climb before a fast run to the finish. The opening ascent of Côte de Larringes (9.7 km at 4.3%) accounted for most of the route’s 500 meters of elevation gain.
Last in the general classification (166th), Kamil Gradek was the first rider off the start ramp at 13:00. Lewis Askey followed at 13:01:30, then Cees Bol at 13:03, Matîs Louvel at 13:04:30, and so on at 90-second intervals until the top 15 riders in the general classification, who started every two minutes. Race leader Tadej Pogacar was the final rider to leave the start house at 17:15.
Tarling against Ganna
Gradek was also the first rider to reach the finish, stopping the clock at 38’57”. His early benchmark was quickly eclipsed by Askey and then by Milan Fretin (Cofidis), who averaged 41.6 km/h to record a time of 37’40”.
Attention then turned to the time trial specialists, including Josh Tarling (Netcompany Ineos), Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarché), Daan Hoole (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos).
The intermediate splits reflected the different strengths required by the course. Hoole posted the fastest time at the first checkpoint (4.8 km), but Ganna took over at the summit of Côte de Larringes (9.7 km), leading Artz by 2 seconds and Hoole and Tarling by 7. Tarling made up the difference on the descent, reaching the third checkpoint (18.1 km) with a 5-second advantage over Ganna. The two Netcompany Ineos teammates then produced nearly identical times over the final 8 kilometers on the flat.
Tarling claimed the provisional lead in 34’21”, averaging 45.59 km/h. Ganna finished just under 5 seconds behind, while Artz trailed by 28 seconds and Hoole by 45.
Cattaneo raised the standard
Thibault Guernalec (Total Energies) narrowly edged Ganna at the summit by 0.16 second but gave up time on the descent. Fellow Frenchman Bruno Armirail (Visma-Lease a Bike) climbed even faster, reaching the summit in 17’24”—more than 18 seconds quicker than Guernalec. He maintained enough of his advantage on the second half of the course to set a new fastest time of 34’14”, 7 seconds ahead of Tarling and 11 ahead of Ganna.
Mattia Cattaneo (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) then strengthened Italy’s hopes with the quickest climb yet, reaching the summit in 17’14”. Although he surrendered a few seconds on the descent, he remained in front and finished in 34’01”, improving Armirail’s benchmark by 13 seconds. He also became the first rider to average more than 46 km/h over the full course, at 46.03 km/h.
Before the top 15 riders in the general classification began their rides, Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) delivered a strong performance to move into second place, just 5 seconds behind Cattaneo. His ride was all the more impressive considering he arrived late to the start and lost time before even leaving the ramp.
Evenepoel dominated, Lipowitz crashed out
As the leading contenders in the general classification began their efforts, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) immediately asserted himself. The Belgian set the fastest time at every intermediate checkpoint before storming to the finish in 32’19”, averaging a remarkable 48.45 km/h.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) proved to be Evenepoel’s closest challenger, finishing 28 seconds back as the only rider within a minute of the Belgian’s winning time. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) placed third on the stage at 1’04”, followed by Paul Seixas (+1’16”) and Isaac del Toro (+1’21”). Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), meanwhile, conceded 2’22”.
The stage also delivered heartbreak for Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Third overall at the start of the day, the German was matching the pace of Del Toro and Seixas before crashing in a corner. Unable to continue, he was forced to abandon the race.
Stage 16 Results:
| 1 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 00h 32′ 19” | – | – | – |
| 2 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 00h 32′ 47” | + 00h 00′ 28” | – | – |
| 3 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 00h 33′ 23” | + 00h 01′ 04” | – | – |
| 4 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 00h 33′ 35” | + 00h 01′ 16” | – | – |
| 5 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 00h 33′ 40” | + 00h 01′ 21” | – | – |
| 6 | M. CATTANEO | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 00h 34′ 01” | + 00h 01′ 42” | – | – |
| 7 | T. ARENSMAN | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 00h 34′ 06” | + 00h 01′ 47” | – | – |
| 8 | B. ARMIRAIL | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 00h 34′ 14” | + 00h 01′ 55” | – | – |
| 9 | P. CASTRILLO | MOVISTAR TEAM | 00h 34′ 19” | + 00h 02′ 00” | – | – |
| 10 | J. TARLING | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 00h 34′ 21” | + 00h 02′ 02” | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 16:
| 1 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 56h 14′ 18” | – | B : 52” | – |
| 2 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 56h 18′ 50” | + 00h 04′ 32” | B : 20” | – |
| 3 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 56h 21′ 09” | + 00h 06′ 51” | B : 24” | – |
| 4 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 56h 21′ 29” | + 00h 07′ 11” | B : 8” | – |
| 5 | J. AYUSO | LIDL-TREK | 56h 23′ 40” | + 00h 09′ 22” | – | – |
| 6 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 56h 24′ 32” | + 00h 10′ 14” | – | – |
| 7 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 56h 27′ 08” | + 00h 12′ 50” | – | – |
| 8 | T. PIDCOCK | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 56h 27′ 16” | + 00h 12′ 58” | B : 8” | P : 20” |
| 9 | J. JEGAT | TOTALENERGIES | 56h 37′ 08” | + 00h 22′ 50” | – | – |
| 10 | Y. VOISARD | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 56h 38′ 36” | + 00h 24′ 18” | – | – |
