Remco Evenepoel achieved consecutive stage victories in the Tour de France, winning the stage 16 individual time trial from Evian to Thonon-les-Bains. This win allowed him to decrease some of Tadej Pogacar’s overall advantage. Evenepoel, who is the Olympic road and time trial champion, is now second in the general classification of the Tour.
The Belgian rider secured his victory over Pogacar by 28 seconds on his national day, narrowing the Slovenian’s lead to just over four and a half minutes. This marks Evenepoel’s third career time trial win in the Tour. He expressed his satisfaction, stating it had been some time since he performed at such a high level and felt amazing to be in good shape for the Tour.
Evenepoel acknowledged Pogacar as a “superstar” and indicated that the race is not yet concluded, with several challenging stages still remaining. Despite the victory, Evenepoel’s success was somewhat overshadowed by the withdrawal of his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate, Florian Lipowitz. Lipowitz, who finished third in the Tour last year, crashed during the stage and sustained a broken collarbone, leading to his exit from the race.
Lipowitz fell on a sharp right-hand bend after a downhill section and was taken from the scene on a stretcher. His departure marks the second podium finisher from the previous year’s Tour to leave the current race within a 72-hour period, following Jonas Vingegaard’s earlier exit.
Doping test controversy continues
Amidst the ongoing race, discussions continued regarding the nocturnal drug testing activities conducted by the ITA (International Testing Agency). These activities included visits to Vingegaard at 2am and Pogacar at 5am last Sunday for testing.
The decision to test both riders outside the typical testing window of 6am to 11pm has drawn considerable criticism. However, these tests were authorised by the Paris prosecutor’s office. Jonathan Vaughters, manager of the EF Education EasyPost team, commented on the ease of obtaining such warrants, suggesting that a French judge, unfamiliar with sports science or haematology, would likely be easily convinced given the sport’s history.
Vaughters affirmed his support for the ITA, viewing this as an instance of effective work, but he cautioned against overinterpreting the judicial warrant, implying the bar for obtaining it might not be particularly high. Pascal Chanteur, vice-president of the CPA (professional riders association), which has been critical of night-time testing, also questioned the prosecutor’s actions, noting that the judge had no knowledge of cycling.
Chanteur stated that the CPA supports night-time testing if sufficient evidence exists. He also suggested that the differing times of Vingegaard’s and Pogacar’s tests were not significant, attributing it to the ITA’s limited resources. The French sports code mandates that testing procedures must maintain strict proportionality between infringing an athlete’s rights and the objectives of anti-doping efforts.
In May, Olivier Banuls, the ITA’s director of testing, mentioned that the agency conducts targeted testing rather than mass testing, which he described as inefficient. The results of the tests on both riders remain undisclosed, contributing to an atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding the Tour, even as Pogacar approaches what could be a record-equalling fifth Tour victory.
Race standings and upcoming stages
Pogacar’s teammate, Isaac del Toro of UAE Emirates XRG, maintains his third-place position overall. However, Paul Seixas is now only 20 seconds behind a podium spot after gaining time on del Toro during the time trial.
New Zealand riders Aaron Gate of XDS Astana and George Bennett of NSN Cycling Team finished further down the field in the time trial. Gate placed 110th, while Bennett finished 154th. Overall, Bennett is 81st, more than 3 hours and 14 minutes behind Pogacar, and Gate is 128th, over 4 hours behind the leader.
The race is scheduled to continue with a 174.7km flat stage from Chambery to Voiron.
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Source: theguardian.com
