Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel proved why he is the reigning World Time Trial Champion as he edged general classification leader Tadej Pogačar to win the Stage 7 individual time trial and cut into Pogačar’s lead.
Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) completed Friday’s 15.7-mile route from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin 12 seconds faster than yellow jersey wearer Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), narrowing Pogačar’s overall lead to 33 seconds. Evenepoel leads the contest for the white jersey, awarded to the best young rider under 26, and sits in second place in the general classification standings.
Stage 7 was the first of the 2024 Tour de France's two individual time trial stages. The next time trial will be the last stage of the race, which means the leader could be determined in the final leg.
This victory marked Evenepoel’s first career Tour de France stage win.
“We wanted a stage win, and that is done. It's a perfect day for me and my team. Mission accomplished,” Evenepoel said.
Although Pogačar saw his lead shrink, he said he still considered Friday’s outing a win.
“To lose against Remco, World Champion, the best time trialist right now, it’s still a pretty good feeling,” Pogačar said.
Nevertheless, the heavy favorite acknowledged that the battle for the top spot is intensifying, adding that he needs to “keep an eye on” Evenepoel, as well as Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) as the race progresses. Roglic and Vingegaard finished in third and fourth place, 34 and 37 seconds behind Evenepoel, respectively.
“Right now it’s really close and for me, it’s better to be in the lead than be chasing,” Pogačar said.
As for his own prospects, Evenepoel remains cautiously optimistic.
“I believe Tadej is going to be unreachable,” Evenepoel said. “But this is cycling, you never know what can happen. I think the further into the race we go, the better I will feel, so I’ll focus more on the podium because I feel I have the legs for it.”
American rider Matteo Jorgenson (UCI WorldTeam Visma-Lease a Bike) also recorded a seventh-place finish, enough to move him into ninth place overall in the general classification standings.
Here's a full look at the 2024 Tour de France standings after seven competition stages.
Position | Rider | Times | Gap |
1 | Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) | 00h 28' 52'' | - |
2 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | 00h 29' 04'' | + 00h 00' 12'' |
3 | Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) | 00h 29' 26'' | + 00h 00' 34'' |
4 | Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) | 00h 29' 29'' | + 00h 00' 37'' |
5 | Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) | 00h 29' 44'' | + 00h 00' 52'' |
6 | Kévin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) | 00h 29' 44'' | + 00h 00' 52'' |
7 | Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | 00h 29' 46'' | + 00h 00' 54'' |
8 | Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) | 00h 29' 49'' | + 00h 00' 57'' |
9 | Ben Healy (Ef Education - Easypost) | 00h 29' 51'' | + 00h 00' 59'' |
10 | Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) | 00h 29' 52'' | + 00h 01' 00'' |
TOUR DE FRANCE: Recap, results and standings after Stage 6
Position | Rider | Times | Gap |
1 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | 27h 16' 23'' | - |
2 | Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) | 27h 16' 56'' | + 00h 00' 33'' |
3 | Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) | 27h 17' 38'' | + 00h 01' 15'' |
4 | Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) | 27h 17' 59'' | + 00h 01' 36'' |
5 | Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) | 27h 18' 39'' | + 00h 02' 16'' |
6 | Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) | 27h 18' 40'' | + 00h 02' 17'' |
7 | Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) | 27h 18' 54'' | + 00h 02' 31'' |
8 | Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) | 27h 19' 58'' | + 00h 03' 35'' |
9 | Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) | 27h 20' 26'' | + 00h 04' 03'' |
10 | Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) | 27h 20' 59'' | + 00h 04' 36'' |
Date: Saturday, July 6, 2024
Location: Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-Les-Deux-Eglise (France)
Distance: 114 miles (183.5 km kilometers)
Type: Flat stage
Streaming: Peacock, FuboTV
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