Tour de France LIVE: Jonas Vingegaard blows away Tadej Pogacar to win stage 16 time trial
The yellow jersey holder extended his lead to 1’ 48” in the GC standings
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Your support makes all the difference.Jonas Vingegaard took a huge leap towards clinching a second Tour de France triumph in as many years with a barnstorming performance in the individual time trial on Stage 16. The 22km route from Passy to Combloux proved no trouble for the yellow jersey holder who flew out of the blocks and never let up.
Earlier in the day, France’s Remi Cavagna set the pace and led the way for most of the afternoon before being pipped by Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert.
When the two general classification rivals, Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, heading out for their runs it was clear they were miles ahead of the rest of the field. Pogacar decided to switch from a time trial bike to a road one with 56km and a steep climb to go which cost him vital seconds.
It made no difference in the end though due to Vingegaard’s display. He finished 1’ 38” ahead of Pogacar and is now almost two minutes ahead in the GC standings with five days of the Tour left to go.
Relive all the latest from today’s stage 16 below:
Tour de France stage 16
Powless goes fastest!
Neilson Powless has the fastest time between the second and third checkpoints with a time of 7’24’’. He got through 19 seconds faster than Pierre Latour and is currently leading in the race for the KOM points.
Tour de France stage 16
In the battle for the King of the Mountains, Neilson Powless is on his way up the category 2 climb and is giving it his all. This part of the stage is what he’s been planning for and he’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t come out quickest.
Stefan Kung has switched onto a road bike as he targets the lead in this time trial.
Tour de France stage 16
Stefan Kung flies through the first time check in 10 minutes and 36 seconds. That’s six seconds quicker than the current leader Remi Cavagna.
Will Kung keep up this pace all the way to the end?
Tour de France stage 16
Groupama-FDJ’s Stefan Kung is one of the best time-trialists in the sport and gets his ride underway. He spoke last week about today’s time trial but didn’t fancy his chances.
“I would characterise it as a mountain time trial,” said the 29-year-old to Cycling Weekly. “You have some flat sections but they are short compared to all the uphill we have to conquer.
“It’s 700 metres of elevation almost in 22km, so it’s not going to be one for the specialists, it’s going to be more one for the GC contenders.”
Tour de France stage 16
Mathieu van der Poel is on the road.
He’s taken part in two Tour de France time trials and has finished 5th in both. The first was in Laval where he succesfully defended his yellow jersey in 2021 and the second was in Copenhagen on the opening day of the tour last year.
As he passes the first time check he’s 36 seconds down on Remi Cavagna.
Tour de France stage 16
A note on Neilson Powless.
He set off on a road bike, forgoing the usual time trial bike favoured by most of the other competitiors. That shows his intent to chase after the KOM points between the second and third checkpoints.
Tour de France stage 16
UAE Team Emirates are saying that Tadej Pogacar will change bike at the bottom of the Domancy hill after they made some tests this morning.
From what we’ve seen at this time trial so far, any bike changes haven’t yielded a whole lot of time but the team probably knows a lot more than we do.
Pierre Latour is over a minute down on Remi Cavagna’s tim at the third checkpoint.
Tour de France stage 16
Today’s King of the Mountains points will be awarded to the fastest riders up the hill, from check point two to check point three. Neilson Powless is in contention for the polka dot jersey and has just departed for his ride.
He’ll try to preserve some energy before hitting the climb.
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