- Tour de France: Vingegaard removes all doubt, crushes Pogacar in stage 16 time trial
Stage result
General classification
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 16 of the 2023 Tour de France!
Around 40 minutes to go until the decisive time trial begins.
Here's a look at the official profile. It's a tough one.
And the stage map, twisting around from Passy to Combloux. Just 22.4km but it packs a big punch.
Take a look at our preview for stage 16 here...
Just 10 seconds between Vingegaard and Pogačar heading into today. What will the gap be this evening?
16:58 and 17:00 start times for the big two, so some time to go until we see them roll down the start ramp.
35 minutes to go until Cees Bol kicks the stage off.
156 riders set to start today.
One of the big questions today is whether riders will be swapping to road bike for the finale of the stage, which includes the second-category climb of the Côte de Domancy (2.5km at 9.4%) and the 3.5km uphill run to the finish line.
Tadej Pogačar reportedly did the swap during his recon ride yesterday. Today he checked his road bike before climbing aboard his TT bike...
Looking back two stages to the mass crash in the peloton which saw a fan take down Sepp Kuss and cause a large pileup in the peloton, Jumbo-Visma might be taking action...
Here's Ineos Grenadiers deputy principal Rod Ellingworth on today's stage and their podium contender Carlos Rodríguez.
Just a few minutes to go!
Former pro Adam Blythe says on Eurosport that changing bikes would be "pointless" today because the aerodynamic advantage will outweigh the weight saved by changing to a climbing bike, plus the time lost switching.
Ineos and Bahrain riders won't be switching. No confirmation from UAE or Jumbo, of course.
Here's a look at the finale today, the reason why everybody is discussing about the merits of bike changes.
Actually it's Michael Mørkøv who sets off first – sorry for that mistake earlier. The Dane is starting now and then it's Cees Bol.
Uphill almost from the start today. Not one for those at the rear of the standings heading out early...
Riders like Yevgeniy Fedorov, Sam Welsford, Jordi Meeus, Dylan Groenewegen, Adrien Petit heading off early.
A trio of dsm-firmenich men set off one after another – Edmondson, Welsford, Degenkolb.
Degenkolb crashes heading around the first corner! His back wheel slides out but he's quickly back up and running.
7.1km is the first checkpoint. Further checks come at 16.1km and 18.9km before the finish at 22.4km.
12:03 for Mørkøv at the first checkpoint.
Cofidis rider Alexis Renard has also crashed at the first corner! Is it the white lines or is there some oil there?
It's another fall that doesn't look too serious in terms of injury, though.
Renard's teammate Axel Zingle now the quickest at the first check, clocking a time of 11 minutes.
Adrien Petit has been in the wars this Tour de France, battling on after going down hard in the mass crash on stage 14. He manages to avoid further disaster on the first corner.
Zingle 52 seconds up on everybody else at the first checkpoint at the moment.
Nils Eekhoff sets off... and he goes down on the first corner too!
Again, his back wheel slides forward as he turns it and he slides out.
Mørkøv now through the second checkpoint – 22:08.
Just over 5km to go for the Dane as he tackles the climb.
Mikkel Bjerg heads off. He's a very good time triallist so should be easily the quickest of these early starters.
Zingle now the quickest at the second checkpoint – 21:21.
Adam Blythe on the Eurosport moto says that rain showers are forecast after 3pm local time – around an hour and a half.
Big names including Kristoff, Sagan, Declercq among the recent starters.
Mørkøv now past the top of the climb at 31 minutes. 3.5km to go for him.
A bike change for Søren Wærenskjold. The Norwegian TT champion is starting the climb.
Mørkøv now coming towards the finish line. 500 metres to go.
As the first rider home he sets the quickest time at 39:46, but that won't last very long. Not that he'll mind.
Zingle quickest at the final check at 30:13 but now Gianni Moscon is coming across quicker, just a second shy of 30 minutes.
Bjerg 12:31 at the first checkpoint. He's obviously taking it easy to help Pogačar in the coming days as he's 1:31 down on Zingle there.
Mezgec, Kragh Andersen, Girmay among those recently starting.
Dries Devenyns, who recently announced that he'll retire at the end of the season, is the quickest at the top of the climb so far. His time of 29:16 is 45 seconds up on Moscon.
A bike change for Bjerg at the bottom of the climb. Testing out the process for Pogačar later on?
37:39 for Moscon at the finish line. The quickest so far by 1:26 to Zingle in second.
Devenyns quickest at the top now, just two seconds up on Moscon, who made up 43 seconds on the Belgian in that final run.
Here's what Degenkolb said about his crash at the start. He said he didn't know what happened to cause it...
Lampaert, Cavagna, Wright, Philipsen, Clarke, Cosnefroy among the major names who are just starting out.
An update from Matteo Jorgenson following his abandon.
Bjerg comes to the finish line at fifth fastest with a time of 39:12, 1:35 down on Devenyns. He's sped up since taking the road bike after having a slow start.
Green jersey Philipsen sets off. another day that isn't for him to get through.
Mads Pedersen quickest at the first check with 10:46 but Cavagna soon goes quicker, four seconds up.
Nikias Arndt coming to the finish and he should be the quickest man so far!
The German is 18 seconds up on Devenyns and he takes over the hot seat. 37:19 at the finish.
The likes of Cavagna, Pedersen, Wright quicker than his at the first checkpoint, though.
Spots of rain on the TV moto camera lens as we follow Cavagna into the final 10km.
Cavagna top of the standings – 19:56 with 13 seconds on Pedersen as he starts the climb. At the top, Pedersen is quickest with a time of 28:08, 1:08 up on Dries Devenyns.
Cavagna up the climb and 24 seconds up on Pedersen!
The Dane is now the fastest at the finish. His time of 36:07 is 1:!2 up on Arndt.
Cavagna into the final kilometre now.
The French TT champion is set to take the lead.
He duly does just that. 35:42 for him, 25 seconds up on Pedersen, 1:37 on Arndt.
Lafay, Naesen, Costa, Gallopin, Craddock among those just starting their rides.
Cavagna's teammate, Danish TT champion Kasper Asgreen is heading into the final 7km. He was fourth at the first check, third at the second.
Tony Gallopin head off to start, like Dries Devenyns earlier on, his final Tour de France time trial.
Green jersey Jasper Philipsen ticks off the time trial at 24th from 51 finishers, 3:44 down.
UAE Team Emirates DS Andrej Hauptman has reportedly confirmed that Pogačar will change to a road bike for the Côte de Domancy and uphill run to the line today.
Here's what stage 16 leader Remi Cavagna said after finishing his ride.
Asgreen fourth at the top of the climb, 42 seconds down.
Fred Wright passed the finish line a little while ago. He's currently third quickest, the last man within a minute of Cavagna's time, 53 seconds down.
Stuyven, Mohoric, Lopez, Politt, Fraile among the next riders starting their time trials.
The fastest man on stage 16 so far – Remi Cavagna.
Asgreen now making his way towards the finish line.
He's up on Cavagna's time heading into the final 400 metres, but he's not going to beat his teammate.
Asgreen crosses the line in Combloux in third place. He sets a time of 36:17, 35 seconds down.
The last drag to the line and that final kilometre is a deceptively long one.
Nobody out on course threatening the top of the standings at the moment. Pierre Latour sixth at the first checkpoint, 21 seconds down on Cavagna.
The second-quickest man so far, Mads Pedersen.
Under two hours to go until the top GC men head out to take on the 22.4km course.
Of course we're well into the final week of the men's Tour de France, which means that the Tour de France Femmes is coming up fast. The race kicks off on Sunday in Clermont-Ferrand and makes its way to the Col du Tourmalet and a closing time trial in Pau. Check out our rundown of the top contenders at the link below.
UAE Team Emirates boss Mauro Gianetti tells Eurosport about Pogačar's bike switch strategy...
Victor Lafay falls off his bike on the final run to the finish line!
The stage 2 winner's chain seems to have jammed or jumped as he was riding along standing on the pedals. His bike twisted left to right and he hit the ground.
Mathieu van der Poel heads down the start ramp to huge cheers.
Powless, Soler, Geschke coming up soon.
Latour seventh at the bottom of the climb, sixth at the top at 1:03 down on Cavagna.
The French climber could yet race into the top five so far given the road the line is all uphill too.
Campenaerts and Küng on the way. Let's see how they fare.
Kasper Asgreen out on course on the way to third place.
Apologies for the geo-restricted (UK) video but here's what Mikkel Bjerg had to say about the bike change and the climb...
Latour does indeed ride into the top five with that final climb to the line. He's up in fourth at the moment, 51 seconds down on Cavagna's leading time of 35:42.
Campenaerts taking it easy during his ride. He passes the first checkpoint at 7.1km at 1:59 down on Cavagna.
Stefan Küng passes through the checkpoint and he's clearly giving it his all today. The Swiss rider is quickest so far there, going six seconds up on Cavagna with a time of 10:36.
No change in the top 10 at the line since Latour passed through in fourth place.
After Victor Lafay, Cofidis' second stage winner of the Tour, Ion Izagirre, sets off. Let's hope he doesn't fall victim to a crash today, as his teammate did.
Neilson Powless tackles the climb now. He's on a regular road bike today, only fitted with aero bars and possibly a rear wheel aero cover. He's going all out for the points on the climb.
Meanwhile, Küng blasts past his 1:30 man Maxim Van Gils.
Lutsenko, Woods, Haig, Alaphilippe, Teuns among the next batch of riders to set off.
Küng neck and neck with Cavagna on the live timing as he races into the final 7km of the course.
Powless passes the top of the climb at 2:53 down. He was at 3:18 at the bottom.
Meanwhile Küng switches to a road bike at the bottom of the climb.
Küng has lost time on the climb. He was two seconds down on Cavagna at the bottom and he crosses the top at 28 seconds down.
Does changing bikes work? That's the big question of the day.
The Swiss rider heading towards the final kilometre now.
Ion Izagirre having a good ride. Fifth at the first check, sixth at the second – 43 seconds down on Cavagna.
Küng slower than Cavagna with 300 metres to go.
Fifth for him at the line, 52 seconds behind Cavagna. He lost almost all of it from the Côte de Domancy onwards.
A shot of Küng tackling the climb.
Jungels, Benoot, Poels, Bernal among the latest rider to set off.
Izagirre sixth at the top of the climb, 56 seconds down on Cavagna.
Cavagna top of every checkpoint apart from the first one, where Küng beat him by six seconds.
40 minutes to go until Pogačar and Vingegaard set off to start their rides.
Wout van Aert is off! Ben O'Connor next up.
The Belgian is perhaps the favourite for the stage win outside of the big two.
Astana Qazaqstan boss Alexander Vinokourov has said that they'll welcome the retiring Mark Cavendish back for 2024 after he crashed out of the Tour de France. Now the team is looking to sign lead-out men for next season...
Ion Izagirre comes to the finish at 1:06 down on Cavagna. Like Küng, he's another rider who lost time from the climb onwards.
In the polka dot jersey, Giulio Ciccone is about to head on up the climb.
Ciccone's teammate Mattias Skjelmose is 10th at the first check, 25 seconds down.
Jonas Vingegaard warming up in a 'cooling tent', basically a small gazebo by the Jumbo-Visma bus with some big fans blasting the riders.
A top ride from Alexey Lutsenko. He goes fourth at the finish, 49 seconds down on Cavagna.
Back to Ciccone and he's still working his way up the Côte de Domancy. Here's a shot of him before he switched bikes, which he did some time before the start of the climb.
Ciccone crosses the top in his full polka dot outfit with a time of 29:49, 2:05 down on Cavagna.
Big names heading down the start ramp now – Pinot, Landa, Buchmann.
Alaphilippe the latest rider to finish, 12th at 1:43 down.
Van Aert fourth at the second checkpoint, 20 seconds down on Cavagna.
Van Aert onto the climb – no bike change for him.
Ciccone, job done, finishes his ride in 33rd place, 2:53 down. Now he'll hope that the big GC men don't blast his time on the climb away.
Into the top 10 riders now as Guillaume Martin begins his ride.
Van Aert gaining on the climb. Live timing says he's 13 seconds down now.
Eurosport reporting a road bike on the top of Pogačar's UAE follow car. They've said they'll do a bike change so...
Gaudu and Simon Yates get underway.
Van Aert now leading the time trial on the road. He's two seconds up on Cavagna at the top of the climb!
Pello Bilbao is off.
Pidcock 23 seconds at the first checkpoint.
Skjelmose flew to the finish. He went from 10th at the first two checkpoints to second at the line, 15 seconds down on Cavagna.
Van Aert out on course going for the win.
Adam Yates next up in two minutes as Hindley goes.
Van Aert into the final kilometre...
Van Aert comes to the line and he's done it!
The Belgian TT champion had plenty of time to play with on the run to the finish. He powers home with a time of 35:27, 15 seconds up on Cavagna.
A new rider in the hot seat.
Meanwhile, Adam Yates sets off, followed by Rodríguez.
Gaudu defending an 11-second lead over Martin for ninth place overall.
Pogačar and Vingegaard are about to start!
Simon Yates second at the first checkpoint, a nice start. Two seconds down on Küng.
Pogačar takes some deep breaths on the ramp before he's counted off. His time trial is now underway.
Vingegaard goes in two minutes.
Seventh-placed man Bilbao also good at the first check – third at three seconds.
Vingegaard start and dashes away around the first corner.
Kuss seventh at 10 seconds at the first checkpoint. Pidcock 17th at the second.
Just over half an hour of tension coming up...
Hindley 23rd at the first check, 30 seconds down. He's over 2:30 up on Kuss so his fifth overall shouldn't be in danger today.
Adam Yates almost matches his brother's time. He's three seconds down on Simon, five down on Küng.
The live timing shows Vingegaard as 20 seconds up on Van Aert after four minutes of racing... That doesn't sound super realistic, but we'll see...
Pogačar seven minutes into his ride – just over three to go until he passes the first checkpoint.
Pogačar flying at the first checkpoint! He sets a time of 10:10, 26 seconds up on Küng. Wow.
Vingegaard is even faster!!
The Dane has 16 seconds on Pogačar after 7.1km...
Vingegaard 16 up on Pogačar, 42 up on Küng.
Kuss 11th at 49 seconds at the second checkpoint before the climb.
Vingegaard bombing along on stage 16.
Hindley a minute down at the second check. Gaudu 54 seconds down at the top of the climb.
Landa, Buchmann, Castroviejo, Majka finishing their riders but nobody threatening the top of the standings.
Simon Yates third at the third check at the top of the climb, three seconds down on Van Aert.
Yates is eighth, 37 seconds down on Bilbao on the GC.
His brother Adam 27 seconds down on Cavagna at the second check. We'll soon see how Rodríguez fares in comparison in the battle for third place.
Vingegaard reportedly only gaining time on Pogačar. Live timing says 30 seconds!
The yellow jersey passes the 10km to go banner. That's a 30-second gap after just over 12km of racing.
Rodríguez 38 seconds down heading into the climb. 10 seconds lost to Adam Yates, leaving nine to play with to defend third.
Bilbao fourth at 21 seconds at the top of the Côte de Domancy.
Now Pogačar passes the second checkpoint. He's quickest, 20 seconds up on Cavagna.
No sign of a bike change for Pogačar as he starts the climb.
WIll they do it? Or was all the bike change talk just a mind game?
He stops. 5.6km to go and onto the road bike.
He's quickly underway – will he make up the time lost?
Now Vingegaard is through the checkpoint. 31 seconds up on Pogačar, 51 on Cavagna.
This battle is not as close as any of us expected today. 31 seconds, wow.
Gaudu fifth at the finish line, 40 seconds down on Van Aert.
No bike change for Vingegaard so far.
Hindley at the top of the climb, 1:24 down on Van Aert.
His brother Adam is fourth over the top of the climb. He stayed on his TT bike and is 15 seconds down on Van Aert there.
Pogačar out on the road before his bike change.
Live timing now saying he's 50 seconds down on Vingegaard!
A great ride from Pello Bilbao to take second from Simon Yates at the finish. The Bahrain Victorious rider and stage 10 winner is four seconds down on Van Aert.
Rodríguez 22 seconds down at the top of the climb, seven seconds down on Adam Yates. He has gained time and is defending his third place!
Pogačar has blown everyone away at the top of the Côte de Domancy. 26:57 and he's 45 seconds up on Van Aert there!
Under two minutes before Vingegaard passes through that checkpoint.
18.9km done for Pogačar. 3.5km to go
Vingegaard is going even faster though...
The yellow jersey passes the checkpoint with a time of 25:52. He's 1:05 up on Pogačar!
A top 10 at the finish for his teammate Sepp Kuss. 49 seconds down on Van Aert there.
Ciccone is still the fastest man up the climb in all of this. Vingegaard's time up there was second best of the day at 6:47, three seconds slower.
Hindley at the finish, 20th at 1:46 down.
2km to go for Vingegaard.
Adam Yates finishes 21 seconds down in fifth place so far.
1.5km to go for Pogačar.
Just three men left to finish now after Yates.
Vingegaard now closing in on the cars behind Pogačar.
Live timing says he's over 1:30 up!
The pair head into the final kilometre.
Pogačar has almost caught Rodríguez.
He finishes just behind him with a time of 34:14.
Now Vingegaard comes through.
32:36 for Vingegaard! He's put 1:38 into Pogacar...
In the hot seat, Wout van Aert takes his cap off to his teammate and smiles at the camera.
36:12 for Rodríguez at the line, by the way. He has lost 24 seconds to Adam Yates and with it third place.
Total dominance by this man today.
A fistbump between Pogačar and Vingegaard as the pair begin to warm down after the finish.
Vingegaard now leads the GC by 1:48 to Pogačar.
Vingegaard only 22 seconds shy of catching Pogačar today... He would've caught and passed every other rider on the course, had they started when Pogačar did.
Here's what third-placed Wout van Aert said after the finish...
Pogačar cools down after finishing the time trial. Tour over?
That was Jonas Vingegaard's 24th career win but only his second time trial triumph after winning the closing stage at O Gran Camiño back in February.
Here's what stage 16 winner and Tour de France leader Jonas Vingegaard had to say after the stage...
A huge day at the Tour de France, possibly deciding the destination of the yellow jersey this Sunday in Paris.
Back in yellow tonight, possibly for good – Jonas Vingegaard.
Tadej Pogačar very much not in yellow but he's in white as best young rider and in second overall. And ready to go on the offensive tomorrow, surely.
Meanwhile, Giulio Ciccone has the polka dot jersey in hand. The Italian focussed his effort on today's climb, blasted up it, and grabbed five points.
Of course, Jasper Philipsen is in the green jersey. No change there. He has 323 points to Mads Pedersen's 186 and looks a sure thing to take it to Paris as long as he avoids misfortune.
What is left to say about today's stage? The TV coverage is over, riders and teams have done their media obligations and will be on the way to their hotels.
But that's all from me for the stage 16 live coverage for today.
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