For most of us, Belgian National Day involves aggressively mispronouncing the names of Trappist beers. For Remco Evenepoel, it means reminding everyone why he’s the time-trial world champion. Coming straight off his historic road victory at Plateau de Solaison, with a rest day inbetween, the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe leader put in a dominant performance on Stage 16. Evenepoel ripped through the The 26.1-kilometer course from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains in 32 minutes and 19 seconds, averaging 48.45 km/h.
The victory secures Belgium’s tenth stage win on their national holiday, breaking a drought that stretches back to Rudy Matthijs on the Champs-Élysées in 1985. More importantly, it marks Evenepoel’s second consecutive stage win and his third ITT victory in as many Tour appearances. He comfortably beat yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogačar by 28 seconds.
Before the general classification heavyweights rolled off the ramp, it was Mattia Cattaneo who laid down the first benchmark of 34:01.
The biggest highlight of the early starters was Netcompany Ineos’s Thymen Arensman, who somehow managed to show up late for his own start time. Despite bleeding seconds before he even clipped into his pedals, he still managed slot in just five seconds behind Cattaneo.
Decathlon CMA CGM’s Paul Seixas clawed back a handful of seconds to finish fourth on the day, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Isaac del Toro maintained his grip on third overall.
Sadly, Florian Lipowitz, who was sitting neck-and-neck with Seixas and Del Toro on the road, suffered a heavy crash in a corner. He was forced to abandon the race.