Key events
What’s happened so far…
The first rider rolled off the start ramp at noon and Josh Tarling of Netcompany-Ineos has set the quickest time so far, clocking 34mins 21secs. The Welshman’s teammate Filippo Ganna has just come across the line and could not quite overhaul Tarling, finishing four seconds off the pace. Huub Artz (Lotto-Intermarche) is currently the third on the podium.
William Fotheringham’s stage guide
William Fotheringham
Stage 16, Tuesday 21 July: Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains (individual time trial), 26.1km
Time trials, remember those? Thirty years ago, with Miguel Induráin in his prime, a Tour might include three contre la montres totalling over 100km. Recently, they have been chopped to sex up the race, so this one lasts just over half an hour. With a second-category climb plus descent, it favours the select group going for the overall, led by the multiple world champion Evenepoel. It will come down to seconds, with the only drama if someone has a bad day as Vingegaard did last year in Rouen. Is this progress? Answers on a carte postale please.
Read the full stage-by-stage guide to this year’s race:
Preamble
Two in a row for Remco Evenepoel? The Belgian is favourite for the only inidivudal time trial of this year’s Tour on a 26.1km course that is uphill from the gate in Évian-les-Bains and features the categort two Côte de Larringes, a 9.7km climb at 4.3%, before a tricky descent towards the Lake Geneva shoreline in Thonon-les-Bains.
The sad withdrawal of Jonas Vingegaard, tinged with controversy after the Dane crashed out the day after his sleep was interrupted at 2am by doping control, confirmed what we already knew about this year’s Tour: Tadej Pogacar is unassailable. Evenepoel may shave a few seconds off Pogacar’s five-minute lead here should he bag another grand tour time trial victory but it is not outside of the range of possibilities that Pogacar shows off his all-around talents by powering away to take this one either. The Netcompany-Ineos pair of Filippo Ganna and Josh Tarling are in with a shout, while Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) is an outside bet.
The real interest in the remaining stages of the Tour will be on the battle for podium and the tug of war over the young rider’s jersey between Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas. Seixas is the stronger rider against clock, but after two weeks in the saddle who knows what impact that will have.
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