Author: Mark Sharon

Passy to Combloux (22.4km Individual Time Trial)

Vingegaard trounces rivals in ITT.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) efforts to claw back seconds on his Danish rival looked in vain after Jonas Vingegaard rode home a 1’28” gain in the Stage 16 Individual Time Trial. It was Jumbo Visma’s first stage win despite Vingegaard leading the race since Stage 6.

The course

The stage was a 22.4km individual time trial that featured a flat and fast start, a downhill section through Sallanches, a power section on a false flat to Domancy, and a final climb to the finish line in Combloux. The climb was the Category 2 Côte de Domancy, which was 2.5km long with an average gradient of 9.4%. The stage was expected to favor the GC contenders over the time trial specialists, especially those who could handle the steep slopes and the change of pace.

The winner

The stage was won by the yellow jersey holder Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), who produced a blistering ride to take a giant step towards being crowned champion for a second consecutive year. The Danish rider flew out of the blocks and never let up, setting the fastest times at all three checkpoints and finishing in 32min 36sec. He was 1min 38sec faster than his closest rival Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who caught his two-minute man Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) but could not match Vingegaard’s pace. It was Vingegaard’s first time trial victory in the Tour de France and arguably the greatest performance of his life.

The podium

The second place on the stage went to Pogačar, who had to settle for second best after dominating the race last year. The Slovenian rider still put in a solid effort, but he was clearly not at his best and lost time on every section of the course. He now trails Vingegaard by 1min 48sec in the overall standings, with only two mountain stages and a flat finale left to try and close the gap.

The third place on the stage went to Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who showed his versatility once again by delivering a strong time trial after two second spots earlier in the race. The Belgian rider was still one minute 13 seconds seconds slower than Pogačar at the finish line and a 2’51” behind Vingegaard.

The top five

The top five on the stage were:

Position	Rider	Team	Time
1	Jonas Vingegaard	Jumbo-Visma	32min 36sec
2	Tadej Pogačar	UAE Team Emirates	+1min 38sec
3	Wout van Aert	Jumbo-Visma	+1min 42sec
4	Adam Yates	UAE Team Emirates	+2min 12sec
5	Carlos Rodriguez	Ineos Grenadiers	+2min 18sec

The top five in the overall standings after stage 16 were:

Position	Rider	Team	Time
1	Jonas Vingegaard	Jumbo-Visma	63hr 06min 53sec
2	Tadej Pogačar	UAE Team Emirates	+1min 48sec
3	Adam Yates	UAE Team Emirates	+8min 52sec
4	Carlos Rodriguez	Ineos Grenadiers	+8min 57sec
5	Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) +9min 13sec

Stage 16 Top 10 and GC

First Tour de France Stage win for Super Domestique Poels

Stage 15: Les Gets les Portes du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc , 179km

Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, Sunday, July 16^th  Bahrain – Victorious’ Wout Poels finally claimed a stage win at the Tour de France at the age of 35. The Dutchman, who has dedicated his career in the service of greats like Chris Froome is no stranger to being at the front of a race, just not so often come the finish. This day he was all alone on the line after dropping and holding off Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) on the slopes of Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc. It is his best result since winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner 2016. His previous top result at Le Tour was third at Andorra in 2021.

Wout Poels, Stage Winner: “I really love this moment. I always dreamt of winning a stage in the Tour de France. Obviously, with Gino [Mäder’s death in June], it has a special meaning. It means a lot to win a stage in the Tour. It makes me super happy. I only started to believe in it in the final kilometres. I had to go full gas. It was amazing, amazing. Gino was helping me today. I thought I had the perfect approach to the Tour. I skipped the Dauphiné but I did pretty well at the Tour of Slovenia [9th] and the team took me to the Tour. They believed I could perform in the third week… and here I am. I really enjoyed my time with Team Sky. It was an incredible experience, but yet I never could fight for stage win. I could do it today and I’m very happy.”

There was barely enough tine to show Poels cross the line before attention was diverted seven minutes down slope to the slugging match between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian just could not shake off the Dane and must have felt the fates were against him when each attack was stymied by a quick response. At one point Pogacar had two lieutenants, Adan Yates and March Soler while Vingegaard had none but it still wasn’t enough. The rivals finally reached the line almost neck and neck and there was no change to the 10″ advantage held by Vingegaard on the GC.

Jonas Vingegaard, Maillot Jaune: “It has been yet another battle between the two of us. I guess it keeps getting better and better for the spectators! The team felt pretty good today, although we of course had this crash that affected some of my teammates. I hope everyone involved is well. Today I felt more in control than in previous days. We can be happy about the stage. I’d like to tell the spectators to enjoy the race and be there to cheer for us without standing on the road or pouring beers on us. Please, just enjoy the race. I’m happy there is a rest day coming. It will be very good for the legs. What will I do? Just chill and relax!”

The Trouble with Crowds

Fan related incidents that bring down riders are still mercifully uncommon but unhappily an over-enthusiastic selfie taker brought down a large number of riders at the 49km mark with Nathan van Hooydonck (Jumbo-Visma) and Egan Bernal (Ineos) involved. While van Hooydonck lay motionless for a while there was much relief when he was shown sitting up. Both riders finished the day.

Stage 15 Results and GC