Crash ends Lipowitz's Tour de France: Evenepoel wins the time trial

In his winner's interview, Evenepoel said: "Mir wurde gerade gesagt, dass mein Teamkollege Lipowitz gestürzt ist. Eine bittersüße Geschichte. Ich wünsche ihm nur das Beste und hoffe, dass es nicht so schlimm ist." Later he told the Sportschau: "Ich habe gehört, dass Florian gestürzt ist. Das gibt dem ganzen einen faden Beigeschmack. Ich wünsche ihm gute Besserung."

Evenepoel takes advantage in the time trial

Britain's Joshua Tarling, 22, riding for Team Ineos (Netcompany Ineos), had earlier set an initial best time at an average speed of 45.6 km/h and sat in the hot seat for one hour and 40 minutes. Frenchman Bruno Armirail knocked seven seconds off Tarling's time, before Italian Mattia Cattaneo went even faster and ultimately finished sixth. Armirail placed eighth, Tarling tenth.

Nils Politt, German time trial champion and Pogačar's teammate at UAE Team, had already made clear beforehand that the hard week and his work as a domestique for the overall leader had left their mark. "Die Strecke wäre heute nichts für mich gewesen, dafür ist der Anstieg viel zu schwer", the 1.92-metre tall Cologne native said. "Selbst wenn ich Vollgas fahren würde, würde ich nicht in die Top10 kommen."

Austrian Georg Steinhauser also looked upon the day as one for recovery in his Sportschau interview: "Heute bin ich ganz entspannt an den Start gegangen. Ich wusste, dass es für mich nichts zu holen gibt. Dann probiert man, den Tag zum Erholen mitzunehmen und die Beine bisschen frei zu fahren."

Other placings and voices

Dutchman Thymen Arensman, 26, also riding for Ineos, started around ten to fifteen seconds late, after the clock was already running. In the end he finished seventh. Going into the time trial he sat 29th overall. Dane Mattias Skjelmose completed the podium in third, 1:04 minutes behind Evenepoel.

In the overall classification Tadej Pogačar remains in the lead with a 4:32-minute advantage over Remco Evenepoel. Mexico's Isaac del Toro follows in third at 6:51 minutes. Lipowitz, last year's third-place finisher overall, thus drops one place, a position that has only statistical significance for him after his exit from the race. With Jonas Vingegaard, who had already had to leave the Tour after a crash, the race loses its second podium contender this year.

Doping controls at Red Bull

Even before the time trial, there had been unusual doping controls in the Red Bull squad's surroundings. On the previous evening at 22:00, all eight riders of team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe were tested. Team principal Mauro Gianetti, 62, told Eurosport that the controls had been "nichts so Großes" and that "alles gut" sei. Nico Denz reported that his turn came at 22:30: "Es ist noch im Rahmen. Ich war 22.30 Uhr dran. Das ist besser als 2 Uhr nachts. Sie waren mit drei, vier Mann vor Ort. Das ging recht zackig, sie haben das professionell gemacht."

The controls at Red Bull were not connected to the controversial nighttime doping controls for which Pogačar had been woken at 5 a.m. and Vingegaard at 2 a.m. A spokesperson confirmed the testing of all eight riders.

Outlook on stage 17

The day before the time trial there had also been an incident in which American Brandon McNulty, teammate of Pogačar and Politt, collided with a car. Gianetti described what happened to Eurosport: "Wir wissen nicht, warum. Er überholte Brandon, stoppte das Auto. Und dann stieß Brandon leider mit dem Auto zusammen." McNulty, like Lipowitz, apparently remained in the race; the precise consequences were initially not made public.

Evenepoel had already won the previous day's stage on the first Alpine climb and left Pogačar behind there as well. With the time trial victory he further strengthened his position as first chaser in the overall classification and remains the only rider who has so far been able to seriously challenge Pogačar on stage finishes.

Stage 17 covers 174.7 kilometres from Chambéry to Voiron the following day, largely flat and offering the possibility of a bunch sprint. For Lipowitz, on the other hand, the Tour de France is over prematurely after his crash. The open question remains how serious his injuries are and when he can return to racing.

With the 25-year-old's departure, this year's Tour de France loses a figure who had been regarded as Germany's hope for a high overall placing. After finishing third last year, he had been considered, together with Vingegaard, one of the few riders who could have threatened Pogačar in the high mountains. The coming stages will show whether Evenepoel can continue his chase or whether the Slovenian will extend his lead further.