The time trial that reshaped the Tour top 10: Seixas closes on podium as Lipowitz abandons

The time trial that reshaped the Tour top 10: Seixas closes on podium as Lipowitz abandons

Evenepoel cut Pogačar’s lead with a second straight win, while the contest for third place tightened and several unexpected time-trial performances altered the lower half of the classification.

By Tim Bonville-Ginn · · 8 min read

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won the Tour de France Stage 16 individual time trial on Tuesday, taking 28 seconds from race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) over 26.1km. Pogačar still leads Evenepoel by 4:32, but the closest contest is for third place. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) gained five seconds on Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), reducing the gap separating third and fourth overall from 25 seconds to 20.

The same 20-second gap separates them in both competitions. Del Toro holds the final podium position and the white jersey, with Seixas close enough to challenge for both in the remaining mountain stages.

Florian Lipowitz’s crash and abandonment removed another podium contender, while Juan Ayuso’s uneven time trial left him under pressure from Lidl-Trek teammate Mattias Skjelmose. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) also limited their losses to remain separated by eight seconds in seventh and eighth.

Results

Jul 21

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Remco Evenepoel
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE0:32:19
🥈
Tadej Pogačar
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+0:28
🥉
Mattias Skjelmose Jennow Jensen
LIDL-TREK+1:04
4
Paul Seixas
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+1:16
5
Isaac del Toro Romero
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+1:21
6
Mattia Cattaneo
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+1:42
7
Thymen Arensman
NETCOMPANY INEOS+1:47
8
Bruno Armirail
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:55
9
Pablo Castrillo Zapater
MOVISTAR TEAM+2:00
10
Joshua Michael Tarling
NETCOMPANY INEOS+2:02
11
Filippo Ganna
NETCOMPANY INEOS+2:06
12
Thomas Pidcock
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+2:07
13
Felix Grossschartner
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+2:07
14
Matteo Jorgenson
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:17
15
Juan Ayuso Pesquera
LIDL-TREK+2:22
16
Huub Artz
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+2:30
17
Daan Hoole
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+2:41
18
Thibault Guernalec
TOTALENERGIES+2:46
19
Ewen Costiou
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+2:49
20
Lenny Sydney Martinez
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+2:50
21
Aurélien Paret Peintre
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+2:57
22
Brandon Mcnulty
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+3:01
23
Yannis Voisard
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+3:02
24
Mauro Schmid
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+3:06
25
Davide Piganzoli
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+3:14
26
Ilan van Wilder
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+3:21
27
Derek Gee
LIDL-TREK+3:26
28
Jakub Otruba
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+3:29
29
Nelson Oliveira
MOVISTAR TEAM+3:31
30
Matthew Riccitello
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+3:31
31
Abel Balderstone Roumens
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+3:36
32
Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+3:37
33
Benjamin Thomas
COFIDIS+3:39
34
Maxim van Gils
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+3:44
35
Clément Braz Afonso
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+3:48
36
Jordan Jegat
TOTALENERGIES+3:52
37
Raul Garcia Pierna
MOVISTAR TEAM+3:55
38
Romain Gregoire
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+3:57
39
Sean Quinn
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+3:59
40
Felix Engelhardt
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+4:03
41
Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+4:05
42
Tobias Svendsen Foss
NETCOMPANY INEOS+4:06
43
Damiano Caruso
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+4:07
44
Damien Craig Howson
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+4:11
45
Clément Russo
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+4:16
46
Michal Kwiatkowski
NETCOMPANY INEOS+4:18
47
Quinn Simmons
LIDL-TREK+4:23
48
Simone Velasco
XDS ASTANA TEAM+4:28
49
Alexandre Delettre
TOTALENERGIES+4:28
50
Egan Arley Bernal Gomez
NETCOMPANY INEOS+4:30
51
Quentin Pacher
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+4:31
52
Xandro Meurisse
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+4:32
53
Dylan van Baarle
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+4:33
54
Tim Wellens
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+4:34
55
Nicolas Prodhomme
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+4:40
56
Guillaume Martin Guyonnet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+4:40
57
Mathis le Berre
TOTALENERGIES+4:40
58
Ben Alexander O'Connor
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+4:46
59
Michael Valgren
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+4:47
60
Nils Politt
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+4:47
61
Joel Nicolau Beltran
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+4:52
62
Antonio Tiberi
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+4:53
63
Nicolas Breuillard
TOTALENERGIES+4:56
64
Valentin Paret Peintre
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+5:04
65
Krists Neilands
NSN CYCLING TEAM+5:05
66
Kévin Vauquelin
NETCOMPANY INEOS+5:07
67
Jonas Abrahamsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+5:09
68
Mathias Vacek
LIDL-TREK+5:11
69
Mads Pedersen
LIDL-TREK+5:12
70
Jai Hindley
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+5:13
71
Michael James Matthews
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+5:13
72
Julian Alaphilippe
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:13
73
Rick Pluimers
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:13
74
Alex Baudin
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+5:14
75
Quinten Hermans
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:18
76
Jose Felix Parra Cuerda
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+5:18
77
Marco Frigo
NSN CYCLING TEAM+5:21
78
Jasper Stuyven
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+5:21
79
Milan Fretin
COFIDIS+5:21
80
Georg Zimmermann
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+5:22
81
Nicolya Vinokurov
XDS ASTANA TEAM+5:25
82
Matteo Vercher
TOTALENERGIES+5:25
83
Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia
XDS ASTANA TEAM+5:26
84
Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes
MOVISTAR TEAM+5:29
85
Adam Richard Yates
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+5:30
86
Lucas Plapp
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+5:31
87
Dorian Godon
NETCOMPANY INEOS+5:32
88
Tiesj Benoot
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+5:33
89
Hugo Page
COFIDIS+5:36
90
Kasper Asgreen
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+5:36
91
Alex Kirsch
COFIDIS+5:43
92
Joris Delbove
TOTALENERGIES+5:43
93
Edward Planckaert
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+5:43
94
Jonas Rickaert
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+5:46
95
Sebastian Berwick
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+5:46
96
Mathieu van der Poel
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+5:47
97
Brent van Moer
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:47
98
Tobias Halland Johannessen
UNO-X MOBILITY+5:47
99
Ion Izaguirre Insausti
COFIDIS+5:48
100
Edoardo Affini
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+5:48
101
Max Walker
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+5:48
102
Nico Denz
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+5:50
103
Stefano Oldani
CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA+5:51
104
Michael Storer
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:54
105
Alex Aranburu Deva
COFIDIS+5:54
106
Pascal Ackermann
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+5:55
107
Alfred Brockwell Wright
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:56
108
Georg Steinhauser
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+5:56
109
Robert Stannard
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+5:58
110
Aaron Murray Gate
XDS ASTANA TEAM+6:00
111
Anders Halland Johannessen
UNO-X MOBILITY+6:00
112
Liam Slock
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+6:01
113
Anders Skaarseth
UNO-X MOBILITY+6:03
114
Luke Durbridge
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+6:03
115
Tim Marsman
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+6:04
116
Julius van den Berg
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+6:05
117
Jan Tratnik
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+6:06
118
Ben Healy
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+6:09
119
Toms Skujins
LIDL-TREK+6:09
120
Marc Hirschi
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+6:12
121
Florian Vermeersch
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+6:13
122
Warren Barguil
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+6:14
123
Vlad van Mechelen
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+6:16
124
Carlos Verona Quintanilla
LIDL-TREK+6:18
125
Sepp Kuss
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+6:19
126
Michel Heßmann
MOVISTAR TEAM+6:20
127
Jenthe Biermans
COFIDIS+6:20
128
Baptiste Veistroffer
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+6:20
129
Lorenzo Germani
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+6:23
130
Marco Haller
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+6:23
131
Anthony Turgis
TOTALENERGIES+6:23
132
Emiel Verstrynge
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+6:27
133
Thomas Jake Stewart
NSN CYCLING TEAM+6:30
134
Davide Ballerini
XDS ASTANA TEAM+6:31
135
Lewis Askey
NSN CYCLING TEAM+6:31
136
Cees Bol
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+6:32
137
Phil Bauhaus
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+6:33
138
Robbe Dhondt
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+6:33
139
Olav Kooij
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+6:34
140
Magnus Nielsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+6:35
141
Victor Campenaerts
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+6:38
142
Kamil Gradek
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+6:38
143
Javier Romo Oliver
MOVISTAR TEAM+6:39
144
Mike Teunissen
XDS ASTANA TEAM+6:39
145
Louis Vervaeke
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+6:40
146
Matej Mohoric
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+6:40
147
John Degenkolb
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+6:45
148
Max Kanter
XDS ASTANA TEAM+6:46
149
Matis Louvel
NSN CYCLING TEAM+6:46
150
Lennert van Eetvelt
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+6:47
151
Per Strand Hagenes
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+6:49
152
Frank van den Broek
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+6:52
153
Jasper Philipsen
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+6:54
154
George Bennett
NSN CYCLING TEAM+6:55
155
Silvan Dillier
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+6:57
156
Søren Wærenskjold
UNO-X MOBILITY+6:57
157
Tim van Dijke
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+6:57
158
Niklas Märkl
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+6:58
159
Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue
XDS ASTANA TEAM+7:03
160
Pavel Bittner
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+7:04
161
Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda Hernandez
MOVISTAR TEAM+7:17
162
Biniam Girmay
NSN CYCLING TEAM+7:26
163
Piet Allegaert
COFIDIS+7:32
164
Pascal Eenkhoorn
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+7:40

Seixas closes on Del Toro as Skjelmose pressures Ayuso

Teenager Seixas moved to within 20 seconds of the white jersey and the podium after taking five seconds from Del Toro before a decisive final week in the Alps. Neither rider has room for an off day, with the race’s hardest mountain stages awaiting on Friday and Saturday, both finishing atop Alpe d’Huez. Del Toro is third at 6:51, while Seixas is fourth at 7:11.

Cyclist Paul Seixas surges in an individual time trial at the Tour de France, kicking up dust as he rides.

The time trial course opened with the 9.7km Côte de Larringes at an average gradient of 4.3%, followed by a predominantly descending and flatter run into Thonon-les-Bains. Its mixture of climbing, fast roads and technical corners tested pacing as much as conventional time-trial speed.

Del Toro accepted losing a small amount of time after what he described as a difficult week and a scare two days earlier. He also pointed to slippery corners and rough sections of road.

“I think I can be happy with my TT,” Del Toro said in his post-stage interview on the Tour de France website. “After the week and the scare two days ago, it was pretty okay for me. I can be happy and sleep well tonight. Some corners were a bit slippery, and the road wasn’t super nice at different points. Everybody took risks, because we know this is part of the battle. I’m sad we lost ‘Lipo’ [Florian Lipowitz]. I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Del Toro added that his final week would involve more than defending against Seixas as he also helps Pogačar pursue a fifth Tour victory. “We try to stay positive and always be the ones to put time on the others. Yet, looking at the big picture, I can be happy.”

Lipowitz had been part of that podium contest before crashing on a right-hand corner and abandoning. Pogačar said he also nearly fell at the same turn, which he had struggled to assess during his reconnaissance because cars were around the area.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe said Lipowitz was taken to hospital for further assessment. No further medical details were available immediately after the stage.

His departure leaves Evenepoel as the team’s clear general-classification leader after consecutive stage victories. Jai Hindley and Mattia Cattaneo now carry more of the mountain support load, as do Maxim Van Gils and the team’s other domestiques.

Evenepoel’s win reduced his deficit to Pogačar from five minutes to 4:32, although the Slovenian retains a substantial lead. Pogačar was 15 seconds behind at the top of the opening climb, then chose to reduce his risks on the run towards Thonon-les-Bains.

“I wanted to go for the win today, but Remco is the current Olympic, World and European champion in the ITT, so it was never going to be easy. Chapeau to him. He is a brilliant rider,” Pogačar said in his post-stage interview on the Tour de France website. “It was a good day. I was a bit disappointed that I was 15 seconds behind Remco (Evenepoel) at the top of the climb. From there on, I decided not to take any risks on my way to the finish… and then, on the same corner where Lipowitz crashed out of the race, I almost went down too. I couldn’t see that right-hand turn properly during the recon, because there were some cars around that area. I hope ‘Lipo’ is okay and that he will recover fast. It’s sad to see one more GC contender fall out of this Tour.”

Pogačar added that anything can still happen in the race and he isn’t taking anything for granted but is feeling confident heading into the Alps. “The Tour de France is not over yet. We still have quite a week ahead of us. I have a nice gap on my rivals, but you never know what may happen on a particular day. We now have to go with good confidence and morale into the weekend.”

Tadej Pogačar in yellow attacks during Tour de France 2026 individual time trial on a road verge

Evenepoel credited his equipment and the work done with Specialized before the stage: “I need to thank Specialized for all the new material they gave me for this TT,” he said in an interview on the Tour de France website. “A lot of work behind the scenes to win this ITT with such a performance. I'm just proud and happy, it’s unbelievable to take two victories in a row.”

The Belgian also said he had needed the opening week to recover his race rhythm after not racing since Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April. His time-trial victory followed his mountain win at Plateau de Solaison two days earlier, indicating that he has found his peak form at exactly the right moment.

“It’s no secret that the hardest stages are at the end of the Tour,” Evenepoel continued. “I was not super good in the first week, I needed to get into the race rhythm again. I need to thank my coach and my staff. But it’s not over yet, it’s a beautiful victory but a few hard and nice stages are coming before the end.

“I’m focused on my own spot, Tadej [Pogacar] is on his way to win the fifth Tour de France and it’s just amazing that I can be a bit close to him. It’s an honour to race with him because he’s maybe the best rider ever. It’s a big step forward to be a bit around him and learn from him.”

Meanwhile, Ayuso showed that his consistency is showing through and spoiling what has, up to the last couple of stages, been excellent. He moved up to fifth overall only because Lipowitz abandoned, having lost more than a minute to his main rivals on Stage 15 and further ground in the time trial. Skjelmose is now sixth, only 52 seconds behind his Lidl-Trek teammate.

Skjelmose finished third on the stage, behind only Evenepoel and Pogačar, with the best time-trial result of his career. His pacing plan was deliberately aggressive: attack the opening climb harder than he believed he could sustain, then try to hold the effort to the finish.

“We made a bet to start insanely hard, harder than I thought I could,” Skjelmose said after the stage. He estimated that he conceded only eight seconds to Evenepoel between the final intermediate check and the finish, despite beginning the time trial at such a high intensity.

The result also followed almost 10 hours of wind-tunnel work after the Ardennes, where Skjelmose used his own time and money to refine his position and pursue small aerodynamic gains. With room to take risks from his position in the classification, the strategy brought him much closer to Ayuso and the podium contest.

Mattias Skjelmose rides a time trial in the Tour de France, leaning forward in aerodynamic position.

Martinez and Pidcock also limited their losses with stronger performances against the clock than their previous results might have suggested. Pidcock conceded 2:07 to Evenepoel and less than a minute to several nearby rivals, while Martinez finished 2:50 behind the stage winner and limited his losses to around a minute against the riders closest to him. Both are almost 13 minutes behind Pogačar but remain around two minutes behind the Lidl-Trek pairing of Ayuso and Skjelmose.

Lipowitz’s departure moved both up one place. Martinez is seventh at 12:50, with Pidcock eighth at 12:58. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) sits ninth at 22:50, while Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling) completes the top 10 at 24:18.

There is plenty of room for much more movement in the top 10 in the Alps. And now with two key podium contenders out of the race – both Vingegaard and Lipowitz – the battle for the podium may feel even more open behind Pogačar, lending itself to a more aggressive finale.

Cover image credit: Thomas Maheux

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Tim Bonville-Ginn

Pro cycling contributor

Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked in cycling for well over a decade with his articles being featured across publications such as Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Cyclist, Rouleur, Eurosport, Road cc, Domestique, and more.

As well as writing, Tim has worked as a social media and press manager for professional teams Human Powered Health, Global 6, and Saint Piran across Europe as well as commentating on races such as the African Continental Championships, Tour de Feminin and multiple rounds of the British road and circuit series for Golazo and Monument Cycling.

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