Evenepoel wins Tour de France time trial, Lipowitz withdraws after crash

Danish rider Mattias Skjelmose took third place in the time trial, 1:04 minute behind Evenepoel. They were followed by Paul Seixas at 1:16 and Isaac del Toro at 1:21 minutes back. Del Toro sits third overall, 6:51 minutes behind Pogacar.

Lipowitz's bitter day

For the German hopeful, the 16th stage unfolded bitterly: Florian Lipowitz crashed the German rider Florian Lipowitz in a corner and was forced to abandon the race. The 25-year-old took a right-hand turn too fast, fell and struck his shoulder on the kerb. Heading into the time trial, he had been sitting fifth overall.

Lipowitz is the second top rider from last year to have had to end his Tour 2026 prematurely. Jonas Vingegaard had already withdrawn on Sunday. Switzerland's Yannis Voisard of the Tudor team moved up to tenth overall as a result of Lipowitz's exit. Mauro Schmid of the Jayco AlUla team finished directly behind Voisard and said: «Ich bin zufrieden, wie ich mich am Ruhetag erholt habe und fühle mich frisch». Schmid had already won a stage of this year's Tour de France on the previous Friday.

German riders in the midfield

For the other German riders, the day was less dramatic but produced no top result. Felix Großschartner finished 13th. In the time trial, Großschartner was 2:07 minutes behind the winner. In the general classification, he remains 132nd, 1:52:07 hours behind. Marco Haller came home 130th in the time trial, 6:23 minutes down, and sits 149th in the overall standings.

Outlook on stage 17

The leading group in the overall classification remains largely stable after the time trial. Behind Evenepoel, del Toro is third, ahead of Paul Seixas. Juan Ayuso is fifth at 9:22 minutes back, followed by Skjelmose in sixth at 10:14 minutes. Lenny Martinez is seventh, Tom Pidcock eighth.

Stage 17 takes the riders on Wednesday over roughly 175 kilometres from Chambéry to Voiron and is largely flat. This gives the remaining sprinters and breakaways a chance at the stage win before the race enters its decisive phase in the Alps.