Remco Evenepoel took his first ever win on a Tour de France road stage after he shadowed Tadej Pogačar all the way up the final climb of Plateau de Solaison before beating him in a sprint on stage 15.
The Belgian had already been lifted into second place in the general classification after Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) crashed on the descent to the foot of the day’s final climb. The Dane seemed to be in considerable pain and eventually climbed into the back of an ambulance.
But the race went on and as it hit the steep lower slopes of the of the hors category climb to the finish Pogačar came to the front of the GC group and burned most of the big name riders off his wheel.
The only riders that could go with him were his team-mate Isaac del Toro and Remco Evenepoel.
They rode together, mostly with the UAE Emirates-XRG leader setting the pace, until the final kilometre where Del Toro attacked first but was marked out be the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe leader. Then as they entered the final few hundred meters Evenepoel launched his bid for glory, and while the maillot jaune was able to follow he wasn’t able to come around him.
Speaking after the finish Evenepoel said: “It’s amazing, I’m literally trembling from emotions. It has been a hell of day. It was a pretty hard start, I was feeling pretty bad in the beginning but I got better-and-better throughout the day.
He added: “You have to understand I’m racing with the best rider ever [Pogačar] and he has been doing a hell of climb to try and win the stage with Isaac. For me it’s a big step forward that I can follow this pace because it’s a really hard pace.”
Evenepoel added that he felt he had answered critics who have said he couldn’t keep pace with the best riders on steep climbs by surviving the pressure from Pogačar on the Plateau de Solaison’s 11% slopes.
“I’ve done efforts on this climb maybe 20 times when I was here on training camp, it’s amazing to get this victory.”
Asked about his newfound position as second-place on GC after Vingegaard crashed out he said: “It’s really bad news for him and his team and the race that he’s out. It’s something you never wish on anybody but after [it happens] you have to refocus and try and go for the maximum.”
Evenepoel said he was now focused on winning the time trial, his best discipline, on Tuesday. “It’s amazing that I’ve found my best legs during this Tour,” he said. “I hope I can recover from this one and go into the last week [in good shape].”
Although UAE Emirates-XRG didn’t win the stage - despite having two of the three riders in the winning group - the day was still a success. Del Toro’s ride was enough to lift him into the white jersey and onto the Tour podium while Pogačar has tightened his hold on yellow.
Further down the order, Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) abandoned the race during the stage. The three-time stage winner at this year's Tour will not be around to contest the sprints in the final week.
Tour de France 2026, stage 15: Champagnole > Plateau de Solaison (184km)
1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in 4:23.09
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in same time
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +6s
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +58s
5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, at same time
6. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain-Victorious, +1:57
7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, at same time
8. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +2.00
9. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, at same time
10. Quinn Simmons (USA) Lidl-Trek, +2:16
General classification after stage 15
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 55:41:31
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +5:00
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:58
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +6:23
5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +6:48
6. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +7:28
7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+9:38
8. Tom Pidcock (Gbr), Pinarello Q36.5, +11:19
10. Jordan Jegat (Fra) ToralEnergies, +19:26
