History repeated itself for Remco Evenepoel on Sunday as for the second time in 24 hours, the Belgian crossed the finish line in a Tour de France Pyrenean stage in third place. Yet again he had been distanced by top two GC favourites Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard — but yet again, all the way up to the day's summit finish, Evenepoel had never looked to be in trouble. And with each upward pedal stroke, his podium position in the overall rankings looked increasingly secure, too.
Previously three and a half minutes ahead of fourth-placed João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) after stage 15's latest major mountain test, Evenepoel has now increased his advantage over the Portuguese racer by five minutes. And to round off a great day for Soudal-QuickStep, Remco’s key climbing lieutenant Mikel Landa finished fourth on the stage and has now moved into the top five on GC.
