Belgian Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe won the individual time trial on stage 16 of the Tour de France on Tuesday. He completed the 26.1-kilometer route from Evian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains in 32 minutes and 19 seconds, marking his second consecutive stage victory following his win at Plateau de Solaison. The course featured a 16.4K climb up the category 2 Côte de Larringes and a technical descent before a straight road into Thonon-les-Bains.
Overall leader Tadej Pogacar finished second in the stage, allowing Evenepoel to shave 28 seconds off the Slovenian's lead. Pogacar remains in the yellow jersey, four minutes and 32 seconds ahead of Evenepoel in the general classification. Mexico's Isaac del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG maintained third place overall, trailing Evenepoel by two minutes and 19 seconds, while France's Paul Seixas sits 20 seconds behind del Toro. Denmark's Mattias Skjelmose finished third in the stage, one minute and four seconds behind Evenepoel.
The victory was bittersweet for the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team as teammate Florian Lipowitz was forced to withdraw from the race. Lipowitz, who was fifth in the general classification before the stage, suffered a right collarbone injury after crashing on a right-hand bend with more than six kilometers to go. Evenepoel expressed sadness over the loss of his teammate, noting that Lipowitz had been doing a very good Tour de France and will be greatly missed.
Despite his dominant form, Evenepoel dismissed suggestions that he could challenge Pogacar for the overall victory, stating he is focused on his own position while Pogacar pursues a fifth Tour de France title. The race continues Wednesday with a 174.7km flat ride from Chambery to Voiron, before concluding on July 26 in Paris.