Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) wins stage 15
Stage 16 is a 22.4km time trial featuring a climb in the last six kilometers that has a 2.5km section of 9.4%. In the past week, GC rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar have been very evenly matched in the mountains, so this time trial may be prove to be the decisive stage.
In previous time trials against Vingegaard, Pogacar has shown himself to be superior, winning by 20-40 seconds. And let’s not forget, he won the uphill time trial in 2021 against Roglič. So, on paper he has the advantage. But the climbing advantage he had in 2021 is not the same in 2023. In this year’s Tour, Pogacar has relied more on explosive attacks on climbs rather than high power output, and this kind of explosive riding may not work in the stage 16 time trial.
Based on last year’s stage 20 time trial, Vingegaard’s chances appear quite good. Before slowing his pace (in order to gift Van Aert the time trial victory) Vingegaard was on a winning pace that was at least 30 seconds ahead of Pogacar. He will also have the advantage of starting last, 2 minutes behind Pogacar, and will be able to receive time splits in real-time at any moment and at any point along the course. Pogacar, at best, will only be able to receive virtual time splits. Real-time splits of Vingegaard’s progress (approx. 2 minutes behind) may arrive too late for Pogacar if he needs to alter his pace.
Stage 16 Favorites
Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson, Stefan Küng
Stage 16 Profile
Tour Talk
“It’s incredible, it’s my tenth Tour de France. When you’re a child you dream about it and there it is, I don’t believe it.” – Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), winner stage 15.
“It was a draw today [stage 15]. No one has succeeded in taking back time. It was a beautiful day, but difficult with the heavy fall that knocked three teammates to the ground. I will now concentrate on what I have to do [stage 16 time trial] and do my best to ride as fast as possible.” – Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
“We wanted to make the race [stage 15] hard on the last climb, but I immediately felt that Jonas is super good. I knew I couldn’t drop him, maybe the climb wasn’t hard enough for that. I know the course [stage 16 time trial] well, it is a beautiful and well-designed course. I hope it suits me.” – Tadej Pogačar (UAE).
“I think I handled the stage [15] well. I took the opportunity to start the final climb with a bit of a lead. Only one rider [Wout Poels] was a lot better. I hoped to recover after the descent. I didn’t want to give up, but I broke first.” – Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).
“I already felt better than yesterday at the end of the stage, because I finally have the [KOM polka dot] jersey on my shoulders. That makes me partly happy, but it’s still not good enough. In order to still have the KOM jersey in Paris, I will have to go in as many breakaways as possible.” – Matteo Trentin (Lidl-Trek).
“It is difficult to say whether yesterday’s crash [stage 14] is the cause, but I suffered a lot again [stage 15]. Of course the fatigue starts to pile up after three tough mountain rides in a row, but normally that works in my favor. I couldn’t do more today because I gave everything. – Jai Hindley (Bora–Hansgrohe)
General Classification
- Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 62h 34’17”
- Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +10″
- Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +5:21″
- Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +5:40″
- Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA – hansgrohe) +6:38″
- Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +9:16″
- Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain – Victorious) +10:11″
- Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +10:48″
- David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +14:07″
- Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +14:18″
