Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel stormed to victory in Tuesday's 26.1-kilometer individual time trial at the Tour de France 2026 to shave valuable seconds off Tadej Pogačar's overall lead.
Belgian Evenepoel, 26, blasted over the Stage 16 course along the shores of Lake Geneva 28 seconds quicker than reigning TDF champion Pogačar in second.
Everyone else finished more than a minute back, with Dane Mattias Skjelmose taking third at 1 minute, 4 seconds on the course from Evian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains in the French Alps.
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That performance by the world and Olympic time trial champion - on Belgium's national holiday - cut four-time Tour winner Pogačar's overall lead to 4 minutes, 32 seconds.
"It's amazing, it was a very nice TT (time trial), a lot of people on the side of the road," Evenepoel said. "My whole family from both sides being here, my parents came just today. My wife is here with her parents and the siblings as well.
"And, also, on the Belgian national day is pretty special - I read this morning it's been a while since Belgium won on National Day, so I'm proud to be the one."
It was Evenepoel's second successive stage victory after he triumphed on Sunday's mountainous 15th stage.
It was his fourth Tour stage victory overall, and his third in a time trial.
He also extended the gap to third-place Isaac del Toro to more than two minutes.
But it was a miserable day for Evenepoel's Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe teammate Florian Lipowitz.
Two days after two-time former winner Jonas Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour while sitting second overall, German Lipowitz went down hard on a bend and was forced out of the race.
He had been fifth overall until that point and had set the fourth-fastest time in the three intermediate time checks.
But several minutes after he crashed, Lipowitz was escorted to a medical vehicle holding his left arm.
"That's very unfortunate, it's like a bittersweet pill to swallow with this victory, so I wish him all the best and I hope it's not too bad," Evenepoel said of his teammate.
Both Pogačar and Del Toro had a scare going through the same bend where Lipowitz fell but managed to stay upright.
Pogačar also had a word for Lipowitz, who had pushed him relatively closely in April's Tour of Romandie and was third last year at the Tour de France behind the Slovenian and two-time winner Vingegaard.
"He's been riding super solid and (the) third week I think would suit him really well," Pogačar said. "He's a good kid, Florian. I'm sad to see him leave the Tour. I hope he can recover fast and wish him the best."
Mixed Emotions For Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe In Tour de France 2026 Stage 16
From the moment Evenepoel began his time trial, it was clear he was on course to do something special.
Once the top 10 contenders began their races against the clock, Skjelmose set the fastest time, well ahead of the best of the rest.
Lipowitz, Del Toro and French teenage prodigy Paul Seixas were only a handful of seconds behind at the three time checks.
But when Evenepoel went through the first, it was clear he was riding at a different pace.
Only Pogačar could stay within potential touching distance, but he was seven seconds down at the first time check, with Skjelmose 22 seconds back.
Those gaps ballooned to 14 seconds and 56 seconds, respectively, by the second time check.
That was the uphill part of the course and was where Evenepoel gained most of his time.
On the following descent, and then a flat run to the finish, he gained only eight seconds on Skjelmose, 10 on Seixas and 13 on Pogacar.
"I think it was a really good execution from start to finish, he had good control," said Red Bull sporting director Klaas Lodewyck. "It's mixed emotions, let's say. We're over the moon with the win from Remco, but the loss of Lipo was a big blow for the team."
Tour de France 2026 Stage 16 Results – Top 25
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 32:19
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 32:48
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 33:24
- Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 33:36
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 33:41
- Thymen Arensman (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 34:01
- Mattia Cattaneo (Netcompany INEOS) – 34:06
- Bruno Armirail (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 34:14
- Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 34:19
- Joshua Tarling (Netcompany INEOS) – 34:21
- Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS) – 34:25
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 34:26
- Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 34:26
- Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 34:36
- Huub Artz (Lidl - Trek) – 34:41
- Juan Ayuso (Lotto Intermarché) – 34:49
- Daan Hoole (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 35:00
- Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies) – 35:05
- Ewen Costiou (Groupama - FDJ United) – 35:08
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 35:09
- Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 35:16
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 35:20
- Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 35:21
- Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) – 35:25
- Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 35:33
Tour de France 2026 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 16
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 56:14:18 (B52)
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 56:18:50 (B20)
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 56:21:09 (B24)
- Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 56:21:29 (B8)
- Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) – 56:23:40
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 56:24:32
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 56:27:08
- Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 56:27:16 (B8)
- Yannis Voisard (TotalEnergies) – 56:37:08
- Jordan Jegat (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 56:38:36
- Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 56:39:20
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 56:40:03 (B4)
- Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 56:41:46
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 56:43:32
- Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) – 56:59:21
- Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 57:05:37 (B6)
- Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 57:05:47
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 57:07:22
- Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 57:21:05
- Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 57:21:57
- Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 57:29:50
- Jai Hindley (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 57:32:01
- Carlos Verona (Lidl - Trek) – 57:35:43
- Quinn Simmons (Lidl - Trek) – 57:41:43 (B6)
- Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 57:49:53
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