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Tour de France LIVE: Jonas Vingegaard blows away Tadej Pogacar to win stage 16 time trial

Michael Jones
·23 min read

The final week of the 2023 Tour de France begins with a 22.4km individual time trial from the small town of Passy to the Alpine ski resort of Combloux. ‘The race of truth’ will see Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard ride alone without their teammates or even each other for company as they continue their battle for the yellow jersey.

A time trial could favour two-time winner Pogacar, who is aiming to close the time gap on Vingegaard, as the yellow jersey holder currently leads by 10 seconds in the general classification. Pogacar beat Vingegaard by eight seconds in Copenhagen on last year’s Tour time trial, and by 27 seconds in Laval the year before, winning the stage in the process.

Today’s individual time trial includes an initial uncategorised climb before a category two rise towards the finish and could play into Vingegaard’s hands as he is a notoriously strong climber.

Follow all the latest from today’s stage 16 below:

Tour de France – stage 16 LIVE

Jonas Vingegaard wins stage 16!

16:39 , Mike Jones

Jonas Vingegaard wins stage 16!

16:35 , Mike Jones

That performance is unbelievable. The Yellow Jersey holder takes the victory in this individual time trial. He flew out of the blocks and did not stop.

There was no bike change, no let up and Jonas Vingegaard blows everyone elase out of the water. He finishes in 32 minutes and 36 seconds.

That’s an extra 1’ 38” added on to his existing lead over Tadej Pogacar in the GC. Vingegaard is on the way to back-to-back Tour de France victories!

Tour de France stage 16

16:32 , Mike Jones

Tadej Pogacar goes quicker than Wout van Aert with a time of 34 minutes 14 seconds. It’s not going to be enough...

Tour de France stage 16

16:27 , Mike Jones

Oh my word! Jonas Vingegaard is 1minute and 5seconds faster that Tadej Pogacar. That’s a huge amount of time and will give him one hand on the 2023 Tour de France title.

There’s 3km to go for the yellow jersey holder.

Tour de France stage 16

16:25 , Mike Jones

The bike change for Tadej Pogacar seems to be more of a hindrance rather than a help. Jonas Vingegaard is now around 50 seconds quicker than the Slovenian.

Pello Bilbao defends his place in the GC standings. He finishes three or four seconds slower than Wout van Aert but is quicker than Simon Yates who is behind him on the leaderboard.

Tour de France stage 16

16:22 , Mike Jones

There’s huge support for Tadej Pogacar as the Slovenian goes up the climb. He needs to make up a lot of time on Jonas Vingegaard but he’s only got 4.5km to go.

Adam Yates is 15 seconds down on the current leader Wout van Aert.

Tour de France stage 16

16:20 , Mike Jones

With 5.6km to go, Tadej Pogacar makes a bike change! This is make or break for the UAE Emirates man who collects the road bike and will need to attack this final climb now.

Jonas Vingegaard isn’t expected to change bikes but he’s got a massive lead of 30 seconds over his rival.

Tour de France stage 16

16:18 , Mike Jones

Further ahead on the course, Simon Yates passes through the third and final time check with a three second lead on the current leader, Wout van Aert.

Can Yates go on to win this stage?

Tour de France stage 16

16:16 , Mike Jones

Adam Yates was 47 seconds slower than Jonas Vingegaard at the first checkpoint. He’s even further behind when the yellow jersey holder reaches the second time check.

Vingegaard is now 30 seconds ahead of Pogacar. If he keeps this pace up, then this time trial is already over. There’s a tick over 9km left for the Jumbo-Visma man.

Tour de France stage 16

16:10 , Mike Jones

On the course at the minute there are three men that could potentially take the stage away from Wout van Aert. Adam Yates is as quick as the current leader.

Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard however are absolutely flying. It would be a huge upset if the stage winner wasn’t one of the two main GC contenders.

Vingegaard hits the first time check and is 16 seconds quicker than Pogacar. What did he have for lunch? That’s insane.

Tour de France stage 16

16:05 , Mike Jones

Four minutes into his ride, Jonas Vingegaard is apparantly 20 seconds ahead of Wout van Aert already. The Yellow Jersey holder left the traps in rapid fashion.

He seems so determined to not let Tadej Pogacar gain any time on him today.

Tour de France stage 16

16:01 , Mike Jones

Tour de France stage 16

16:00 , Mike Jones

Jonas Vingegaard is away! He’s the final rider out of the starter’s hut and will be close to the 35 minute mark when he finishes the time trial.

Who is going to win stage 16? Wout van Aert is leading the way at the minute.

Tour de France stage 16

15:59 , Mike Jones

Tadej Pogacar is 10 seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification standings. Can he make that time up today?

Pogacar gets his time trial underway to loud applause and cheers. This will be an interesting run from the UAE Emirates man. Will he pull it off?

Tour de France stage 16

15:56 , Mike Jones

What a ride from Wout van Aert! He takes the lead. Remi Cavagna had the leader’s chair for near two hours but he’s finally been displaced.

The Belgian finishes 15 seconds faster that the Frenchman with a time of 35 minutes 27 seconds.

Carlos Rodriguez heads down the ramp to start his time trial. There’s only Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard left in the hut.

Tour de France stage 16

15:53 , Mike Jones

Wout van Aert has a lead of 20 seconds with just 1km to go. He should go on to beat Remi Cavagna’s time but the final stretch is more difficult than it looks.

This one should be close.

Tour de France stage 16

15:51 , Mike Jones

Sepp Kuss is the latest man out of the starter’s hut. There’ll be a few more riders coming out before Jonas Vingegaard goes last at 4pm.

That’s less than 10 minutes away now.

Tour de France stage 16

15:47 , Mike Jones

Julian Alaphilippe has a big smile on his face as he crosses the line and waves to the crowd. The Frenchman is 1min 43sec down on Remi Cavagna.

With 3.8km to go, Wout van Aert gets into the green and is going quicker that the current leader at this stage. Can he get over the line in first?

Tour de France stage 16

15:43 , Mike Jones

Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingagaard and the other general classification contenders could potentially take out Giulio Ciccone’s rapid time up the KOM climb.

Ciccone finishes almost three minutes behind Remi Cavagna who continues to lead the way.

Wout van Aert, who will want to at least finish in the top five, has reached the bottom of the category two rise with the fourth fastest time of the day. What can he muster up the climb?

Tour de France stage 16

15:35 , Mike Jones

Oh that is crazy quick from Giulio Ciccone! He sprints up the climb in 6mins 44 seconds to move in the lead for the KOM points.

That’s almost 40 seconds quicker than KOM rival Neilson Powless.

Tour de France stage 16

15:26 , Mike Jones

Giulio Ciccone switched out his bike before the bottom of the category two climb. He’s going to have to get back up to speed quickly if he wants those KOM points.

Wout van Aert is 4km or so into his run and is heading through the first uncategorised rise.

Tour de France stage 16

15:25 , Mike Jones

Wout van Aert is away! The Belgian is one of the contenders to potentially win today’s stage. He has not won on the Tour this year and will be keen to get one under his belt.

His Jumbo-Visma teammate, and yelllow jersey holder, Jonas Vingegaard will be setting off at 4pm.

Tour de France stage 16

15:17 , Mike Jones

Ion Izagirre hit the bottom of the climb 43 seconds behind Remi Cavagna and has just fallen further away. He’s still hovering around sixth place for the day so far with about 3km left to go.

Tour de France stage 16

15:10 , Mike Jones

Giulio Ciccone, who is level on points with Neilson Powless in the KOM battle, is just about getting his time trial started. Can he go quicker than his rival up the climb?

Elsewhere, the switch of bike for Stefan Kung has cost him a lot of time. With 317m to go, he falls into the red and will finish well behind Remi Cavagna.

As Kung crosses the line, he’s 52 seconds behind the leader.

Tour de France stage 16

15:02 , Mike Jones

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

14:58 , Mike Jones

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

14:53 , Mike Jones

Tour de France stage 16

14:49 , Mike Jones

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

14:45 , Mike Jones

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

14:39 , Mike Jones

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

14:37 , Mike Jones

(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)

Tour de France stage 16

14:31 , Mike Jones

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

14:29 , Mike Jones

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

14:23 , Mike Jones

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.

Tour de France stage 16

14:15 , Mike Jones

Remi Cavagna doesn’t think he’s set the winning time and believes Tadej Pogacar will beat him to the stage win today. He told Eurosport: “I had a nice race.

“I struggled a bit at the top of the Domancy climb where I lost about twenty seconds but I finished strongly.

“I’m satisfied with my time trial even though the course didn’t suit me very well but I wanted to post a good result because it’s a pleasure to ride with the blue-white-red jersey.

“My last time was at La Planche des Belles Filles and I finished sixth [in 2020]. My time will be beaten by almost one minute by the favourites.

“I hope for a top 10 or 15 but I won’t make the top 5. For the win, I believe in [Tadej] Pogacar.”

Tour de France stage 16

14:10 , Mike Jones

Denmark’s Kasper Asgreen looked to be shaping up for a challenge to Remi Cavagna’s time but in the end finishes over 35 seconds behind this Soudal–Quick-Step teammate.

Pierre Latour, a two-time national time trial winner for France, gets his run underway. Can he beat his compatriot today?

Tour de France stage 16

14:04 , Mike Jones

Bryan Coquard and Benoit Cosnefroy are having fun out there. They’re not challenging to win the stage and look to be safely within the time limit.

The French duo playfully mock up a contest for a sprint finish to get the crowd excited before crossing the line together laughing and joking.

Nice scenes.

Tour de France stage 16

13:59 , Mike Jones

There are King of the Mountains points up for grabs today as well, so Giulio Ciccone and Neilson Powless will keeping an eye on the times before they set off.

If the leading run seems to be within their reach they’ll both have a dart at it. Powless sets off in just over 20 minutes time.

Tour de France stage 16

13:55 , Mike Jones

78 riders have now left the ramp and there are 78 left to set off. This is the halfway stage of today’s time trial with Remi Cavagna and Mads Pedersen setting the two most impressive times.

Tour de France stage 16

13:54 , Mike Jones

There are four previous winners of a Tour de France time trial in contention today.

Julian Alaphilippe (Pau 2019)

Tadej Pogacar (La Planche des belles filles 2020, Laval 2021)

Wout van Aert (Saint-Emilion 2021, Rocamadour 2022)

Yves Lampaert (Copenhagen 2022).

Lampaert is the only one of the four to already take on the course but he was overtaken by compatriot Remi Cavagna and won’t be on the podium today.

Alaphilippe, Van Aert and Pogacar will all finish close to the top you’d expect.

Tour de France stage 16

13:45 , Mike Jones

Tour de France stage 16

13:45 , Mike Jones

Cavagna goes into the lead!

What a run from the French national time trial champion. He went down the ramp at quite the pace and never let up throughout the 22km.

The Frenchman crosses the finish in 35 minutes and 42 seconds, more than 24 seconds ahead of Mads Pedersen. His time is very quick and with rain expected later this afternoon he could be looking at a stage winning pace.

Tour de France stage 16

13:37 , Mike Jones

Remi Cavagna is 24 seconds faster than Mads Pedersen at the final time check before the finish. Who will come out on top when they’ve both crossed the line?

Pedersen flies over the finish in 36 minutes and six seconds. That’s over a minute quicker than Nikias Arndt. Pedersen is the new clubhouse leader but for how long?

Tour de France stage 16

13:32 , Mike Jones

The French champion, Remi Cavagna, is flying too. He looks composed and motivated and has beaten Mads Pedersen’s time at the second time check.

Currently he’s racing up the Côte de Domancy which could determine how close to the top of the leaderboard he’ll finish. 4.5km to go for the Frenchman.

Tour de France stage 16

13:30 , Mike Jones

Mads Pedersen is really going after this 22km course. He’s over a minute quicker than Dries Devenyns at the second time check. The Dane looks to be targeting a stage win here.

Tour de France stage 16

13:23 , Mike Jones

Bahrain Victorious’ Nikias Arndt takes the lead! The German finishes the course is superb fashion and crosses the line over 17 seconds ahead of Dries Devenyns.

The latest time to beat is 37 minutes 19 seconds. Arndt also set that time after climbing on the time trial bike.

Tour de France stage 16

13:19 , Mike Jones

The green jersey holder, Jasper Philipsen, heads down the ramp for his run.

He’s already got four stage wins on this tour and is miles ahead in the green jersey race. The Belgian’s only goal today will be to get around the course in the time limit.

Tour de France stage 16

13:15 , Mike Jones

Eurosport pundit Sean Kelly believes all the talk about switching bikes is all mind games and “it won’t make any difference” to the general classification contenders.

The excitement for today’s stage will come towards the end of the day as Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard head out.

Tour de France stage 16

13:13 , Mike Jones

Belgium’s Dries Devenyns has just pipped Gianni Moscon’s time by two seconds. He gets home in 37 minutes and 37 seconds. The Soudal–Quick-Step rider leads in the clubhouse.

Mikkel Bjerg finishes off his own ride but crosses the line in fifth place with a time of 39’ 12”. His bike change worked okay on the final climb but Bjerg never pushed hard throughout the first sections of the course so his time might not be the best reflection of that particular gameplan.

Tour de France stage 16

13:09 , Mike Jones

The French national time trial champion, Rémi Cavagna, wants to impress here.

This time trial is his best chance of winning a stage on this year’s Tour and as the national champion there’s a but of expectation for him to at least challenge for the win.

He sets off for his run.

Tour de France stage 16

13:03 , Mike Jones

Astana’s Gianni Moscon is the new time trial leader with a decent time of 37 minutes and 39 seconds. That is the new benchmark for those on the course.

The next question that needs answering is whether Soren Waerenskold and Mikkel Bjerg can beat that time having changed bikes.

Tour de France stage 16

13:01 , Mike Jones

(REUTERS)
(REUTERS)
(EPA)
(EPA)
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)

Tour de France stage 16

12:57 , Mike Jones

Soren Waerenskold’s change of bike may be paying off already. The Norwegian has caught up to Alexis Renard and Dylan Groenewegen.

We’ll have to wait to see his time before judging whether it was worth it.

Mikkel Berg has also switched up his bike with around 6km to go.

Tour de France stage 16

12:55 , Mike Jones

Cofidis rider, Axel Dingle, is the current clubhouse leader with a time of 39 minutes 5 seconds. The longer this time trial goes on the more likely those times are to go down.

Tour de France stage 16

12:54 , Mike Jones

The big question for today’s racers is whether to change bike for the final hill or not.

The time trial bike is necessary to record the quickest times from the fifth kilometre to the bottom of the climb but it is a hindrance up such a steep slope.

Norway’s national time trial champion, Soren Waerenskold, is the first to switch to a different bike for climbing but it’s not a very fast change which could prove counter productive.

Tour de France stage 16

12:46 , Mike Jones

Michael Morkov gets over the line. He set out as the first rider and finishes the course in 39’ 46” 22. That’s the benchmark for the rest of the field but expect the winner of today’s stage to beat that time by five or six minutes.

Tour de France stage 16

12:40 , Mike Jones

Most of the riders will be aiming to just get through this stage as quickly as possible. They’ll try to make the time cut and then get back to the hotel so they can relax ahead of tomorrow’s ride.

This is stage for the competitiors hoping to win. The ones that want to earn the yellow jersey or a stage win, the King of the Mountains challenges or any top 10 GC finisher looking to gain time.

Tour de France stage 16

12:37 , Mike Jones

Mikkel Bjerg has just started his run.

He won the ITT at last month’s Critérium du Dauphiné ahead of compatriot Jonas Vingegaard. Will he be allowed to try and win today’s stage or have UAE Team Emirates told him to save energy to help out teammate Tadej Pogacar tomorrow?

We’ll find out in around half an hour.

Tour de France stage 16

12:33 , Mike Jones

Michael Morkov has reached the Côte de Domancy as he moves into the final 5km of the trial. This category two climb has an average gradient of 9.4% but reaches slopes of 13% in parts.

On a time trial bike, this is an added complication that the competitiors need to overcome.

Tour de France stage 16

12:28 , Mike Jones

Nils Eekhoff falls too!

He’s the second DSM rider, and third overall, to crash at the first curve. The riders still to come will need to be aware of this bend, it’s taking no prisoners if the line and speed is slightly off.

Tour de France stage 16

12:25 , Mike Jones

Alexis Renard dropped his chain after falling at the first corner, requiring assistance from a team mechanic to get him moving again. That’s going to put a big dent in his time for today’s trial.

Dutch sprinter, Cees Bol, was due to go out second but didn’t. He was a little late to the start but has not abandoned and is out on the course.

Tour de France stage 16

12:19 , Mike Jones

Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Fedorov is riding with the Asian champion jersey.

He won the continental time trial championship in Thailand last month ahead of Taiwan’s Sergio Tu who is a member of Bahrain Victorious in this Tour.

Up front, Michael Morkov has 13km to go as his time ticks just over 14 minutes.

Tour de France stage 16

12:17 , Mike Jones

John Degenkolb is down! The German hits the first bend, not at the quickest speed, but the bike slips from under him and he hits the deck.

Degenkolb is okay though and manages to get back up to carry on.

Alexis Renard of Team Cofidis falls at the same corner and assesses the damage to his bike. It seems to be a tricky one to get round in these early stages.

Tour de France stage 16

12:13 , Mike Jones

There are three time checks on today’s stage, at 7.1km, at 16.1km and at 18.9km.

All the riders will set off on time trial bikes but there is speculation that several will switch to road bikes before hitting the final climb to the finish.

Whether that actually happens remains to be seen.

Tour de France stage 16

12:09 , Mike Jones

Michael Morkov is the first rider out of the box for today’s time trial. The route is a touch over 22km with a couple of testing climbs and he reaching the first one after three and a half minutes on the bike.

His time will be the marker for the others to aim for throughout the afternoon we’ll see how they all shape up.

Tour de France 2023 stage 16 preview: Route map and profile of 22km time trial from Passy to Combloux

12:06 , Mike Jones

The final week of the 2023 Tour de France begins with a 22.4km individual time trial from the small town of Passy up to the Alpine ski resort of Combloux.

Dubbed ‘the race of truth’, there is no hiding place in an ITT, and we will see Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard ride alone without their teammates or even each other for company.

Typically a time trial might be a big opportunity for two-time winner Pogacar to take time out of the reigning champion Vingegaard, who currently wears the yellow jersey with a slender lead of only 10 seconds after their battles in the high Alps.

Tour de France stage 16 preview: ‘The race of truth’