Stage 16 of the 2026 Tour de France brought the race’s only individual time trial: 26.1km from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains, featuring a punchy parcours with 500 metres of climbing that suited the all-rounders far more than the pure specialists.
Remco Evenepoel reminded everyone why he is one of the greatest time triallists of his generation, storming to victory on Belgium’s National Day to claim his 26th career TT win. Tadej Pogačar limited his losses superbly to finish second, while Mattias Skjelmose produced an excellent ride for third. Paul Seixas continued his remarkable Tour with fourth, narrowly ahead of Isaac Del Toro as the battle for the white jersey edged even closer.
The overall classification remains largely unchanged. Pogačar still holds a commanding lead, while Evenepoel strengthened his grip on second place, with Jonas Vingegaard now out of the race after the crash on Stage 15. Behind them, however, the fight for the final podium position between Del Toro and Seixas is becoming one of the defining battles of this Tour.
The biggest moment of the day came when Florian Lipowitz crashed heavily midway through his ride, forcing him to abandon the race. His exit reshapes the top 10, promotes a host of riders up the standings, and opens the door for Yannis Voisard to move into the overall top 10.
We also discuss why this wasn’t a course designed for pure time trial specialists. Filippo Ganna and Josh Tarling delivered the performances many expected, but on a climbing-heavy route, they were never likely to challenge for victory against riders like Evenepoel and Pogačar.
And we caught up with Pete Kennaugh at the XDS-Astana team hotel on the rest day to hear his thoughts on how the race has unfolded so far, and we tackle the burning question: Was Jonas Vingegaard’s crash a result of the doping test that woke him up in the middle of the night?
Ned Boulting and David Millar break down Stage 16 of the Tour de France 2026.
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34 Comments
Can we still hear Paul and Phil?
Great ride from remco but he hasnt dented the time gap with pog .
Keep up the good work garçons
Once again spoilers in the title.
Do we know if and what time Seixas was drug tested when they went after Jonas etc. Don’t the garlic eaters realise they are so predictable/ despicable?
Another great podcast, Pete always makes me smile with his wonderful attitude. You all look like you are really enjoying yourselves. Thanks for including us.
'Was rooting for Tadej, but Remco's ride was so clean. The tour just became a little more exciting. To me Tadej looked a little disappointed at the end, hope he brings the fire in the mountains.
Having the full trio during the second half was mint 🙏.
.
It's just really great to hear you guys break it down… I know my reaction to these stages, but to hear a candid version of yours is great 👍
Lovely to see Pete and how much he is enjoying the Tour. Brilliant content everyone 😊
Like all of the other comments that have been posted throughout the coverage so far, this podcast has been second to none. Absolutely fantastic analysis, insights, and general chit-chat. Keep up the great work.
Gotta love Pete ! And well done Everyone, great pod !
Pete adds another dimension to an already amazing podcast. I don’t want these to end. BTW, Happy Birthday Pete 😂
I wonder whether Remco’ past football career has given him a physiological advantage compared to full time cyclists in the TT?
The phrase “raided the Astana team bus” was somewhat triggering! 👀
Thanks Ned and David, another great review. Great you had time with Pete to hear his first hand experience in his DS seat. He is great value, always liked Pete as a rider and now as DS he is quite brilliant. 😊
Great post race analysis. Love the chemistry between Ned, David and Pete. You can tell they've all known each other a long time. Getting a real insight into what it's like on the road. Scenery is amazing. It's like you're transported to France for 40+mins.
Ineos aren't a scatter-brained team.. Didn't G ride a whole time trial with a cooling vest on cos he forgot to take it off?
Not your fault but the photographer was really distracting and unnecessary. He didn’t need to shoot live during the pod. He could’ve shot you talking to each other for 2 minutes at the end after recordng and got the very same results. I did his job for 30 years so it’s annoying to see.
Love having Pete back on the pod. I've enjoyed the coverage so far but it's so nice to listen to what feels like a never strays far pod, they are greatly missed!
Pete loves it! Great episode
Remco's closest opponents are a lot bigger than him too, I remember at the Paris Olympics Pippo Ganna really tried to stay on the second step of the podium and just lean in for pictures, because as soon as the photographers made him and Wout get on the top step they towered over Remco
Can't fault this for the discussion, explanation, insights and entertainment. Thank you guys.Please keep going.
PETEEEEEE!!!!!!! another great episode guys! xx
I'd love to see ( if they are only going to have one individual time trial) a 45-50 km time trial …which would insert a bit more jeopardy into the GC standings…I grew up on the days of Miguel Indurain winning time trials by 4 mins…and it;s not like he was a bad climber either!
World champ time trialist smaller in stature, Emma Pooley
blocking this channel because it contains spoilers. goodbye
2 AM testing is fine if they want to catch microdosing. But it needs to be fair. Test the top 5 or top 10 GC riders at the same time. If you do that, I don't think everyone is going to be complaining about it If the reason for early morning 2 AM testing is part of the new normal. But if you do that only for 2 people at the top of the GC standings, you are indirectly affecting the result of the race. Right? Lack of sleep affects performance for these riders. If you test all 10 or all the top 5 at the same time, it levels the playing field. I just thought, trying to make an excuse that we need to do testing at 2AM to combat doping is lame. We understand the reason. But do it "for top 5 or top 10 in GC" at the same time.
What's up with Remco and Seixas is tested at 10PM? And we all said, see…, they got tested too. Nope, they should be tested as well at 2AM not 10PM. If I were Tadej or Jonas, I would be pissed off too. The way they're doing it makes it hard not to make your mind go straight to… riiiighhtt… Seixas is riding well, isn't he? So a little lack of sleep might tame some rider down?
Particularly like the scatter brain comments.
You should keep having a small brandy before recording
Terrific, thanks. Loved the three way chat with Pete.
The corner where Lipo went down and which nearly caught out Pogi did seem to have a bit of a depression in the surface on the racing line. When watching the following camera view of Pogi he is momentarily unweighted after the dip and then on rebound the weight transfer appears to make his bike skip/step out a little, add to that some brake pressure it could easily progress to a full slide out – maybe this was Lipo's fate?
Pete the Legend. More please! We all need more of his unadulterated joy in small things and chilled life attitude. Magnificent!
The best remco so far ever
The TNT TV transmission showed the speedo on the Moto following Armirail – 102 KPH on the descent!
Eurosport CGI bus🤣