{"id":817904,"date":"2026-07-22T05:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817904\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T05:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:07:17","slug":"happenings-of-the-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817904\/","title":{"rendered":"Happenings of The Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Remco Evenepoel Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

by Sean Mackinnon<\/p>\n

The Individual Time Trial at stage 16 of the Tour de France finished with iconic back-to-back stage wins by Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian superstar\u2019s impressive feat takes him one step closer to finishing on the podium in Paris. Tadej Pogacar came across the finish line second, repeating the same result as Sunday.<\/p>\n

It was clear that riders were pushing the limits on Tuesday\u2019s stage, Pogacar had a close call, and Florian Lipowitz, Evenepoel\u2019s teammate, crashed out at the same corner Pogacar had trouble on.<\/p>\n

Other excitement during the stage came when Netcompany INEOS rider Thymen Arensman missed his start time, something that is a bit shocking at the world\u2019s largest race.<\/p>\n

The Departure of Jonas<\/p>\n

\"\"19\/07\/2026 \u2013 Tour de France 2026 \u2013 \u00c9tape 15 \u2013 Champagnole \/ Plateau de Salaison Brison (183,9 km) \u2013 Jonas VINGEGAARD (TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE)<\/p>\n

The big news before Tuesday\u2019s stage was the exit of Jonas Vingegaard on stage 15. Vingegaard\u2019s crash happened when his team was pushing the pace in the valley roads before the final climb. The two-time Tour de France winner was looking forward to the closing mountain stages in the race. The incident on stage 15 happened after both Vingegaard and Pogacar were tested outside of normal doping control times before Sunday\u2019s big stage that included a mountain-top finish.This was something that both Pogacar and Evenepoel highlighted after the Dane\u2019s departure. Former pro cyclist Robbie McEwen had some stark comments that followed Vingegaards departure.<\/p>\n

Doubling Down on the Doping Control<\/p>\n

It is no surprise why cyclists are held to a higher standard of doping control tests, but the cycling world was outspoken about the after hour tests both Vingegarrd and Pogacar faced before stage 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brandan McNulty hit by car before race start<\/p>\n

One thing that happened at today\u2019s race was quite a surprise: UAE Team Emirates \u2013 XRG rider Brandon McNulty was reportedly a \u201cvictim of road rage.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

This was a total shock, and yet another thing that anyone who has spent any time riding a bike on the road can relate to in some capacity.<\/p>\n

The race for the podium<\/p>\n

\"\"19\/07\/2026 \u2013 Tour de France 2026 \u2013 \u00c9tape 15 \u2013 Champagnole \/ Plateau de Salaison Brison (183,9 km) \u2013 Paul SEIXAS (DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM)<\/p>\n

Paul Seixas, the French hope for a top finish or a stage win in the coming days came out strong in the TT on Tuesday, finishing fourth and ahead of Young Rider leader Isaac Del Toro. Seixas was the youngest rider to ever put on a leader\u2019s jersey (the White Young Rider\u2019s Jersey) after an impressive stage 14, but would lose it on Sunday. The French hope is holding his own and sits only 20 seconds off the podium.<\/p>\n

An impressive Tour from Captain America<\/p>\n

\"\"19\/07\/2026 \u2013 Tour de France 2026 \u2013 \u00c9tape 15 \u2013 Champagnole \/ Plateau de Salaison Brison (183,9 km) \u2013 Quinn SIMMONS (LIDL-TREK)<\/p>\n

Quinn Simmons has had an impressive Tour so far, earning the Combatitivity Award on Stage 15, which finished in Plateau De Solaison. It was the fourth time Simmons was in the breakaway this year, and probably won\u2019t be the last.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There will be an exciting finish to the race, with the new Paris finishing circuit involving the Cote de la Butte de Montmatre, a climb revived at the Olympics in 2024. It would be no surprise to see Simmons up the road almost every day until the end of the race. Simmons has made it clear what he feels his role is on the team, and demonstrated that in style during stage 16 when he helped teammate Juan Ayuso on the final climb, and still finished 10th on the stage.<\/p>\n

Merlier Abandons, Too<\/p>\n

Tim Merlier, like Pogacar, has three stage wins in this Tour, but was another rider to abandon the race last week. He dominated the flat stages, but looked to be struggling when the roads got lumpy. The Tour has also set a number of records this year, the fastest ever stage was recorded this year, averaging over 50 km\/h.<\/p>\n

Tech Day<\/p>\n

The Individual Time Trial was an exciting day, with a stark difference between riders just aiming to finish the stage and those looking for a top result. It was also interesting to look at some of the tech that is shared between both triathlon and cycling. Despite the fact that triathletes aren\u2019t restricted by the UCI rules cyclists must adhere to, positions in the pro peloton and those used by triathletes are becoming more and more similar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"18\/07\/2026 \u2013 Tour de France 2026 \u2013 \u00c9tape 14 \u2013 Mulhouse \/ Le Markstein Fellering (155,3 km) \u2013 Tadej POGACAR (UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG)<\/p>\n

Cooling tech on deck for top competitors\u00a0<\/p>\n

One thing that stuck out during the coverage of the day\u2019s race was watching the GC leaders warm up \u2013 the majority of riders were encased in cooling vests and other technology. Tom Pidcock was spotted in a haze of mist and even had some cooling mitts on.<\/p>\n

Pinarello<\/p>\n

While he isn\u2019t still racing in the pro peloton, Cameron Wurf maintains his Tour connection thanks to his ride. Wurf finished IRONMAN Lake Placid in seventh on board a Pinarello.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Marten Van Riel on his way to the win at IRONMAN Lake Placid. Photo: Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images for IRONMAN<\/p>\n

Lake Placid winner, Marten Van Riel,<\/a> stormed to the fastest bike split of the day on a Trek Speed Concept SLR, the same bike that Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek rode to third place on at the Tour today.<\/p>\n

\"\"Paula Findlay at IRONMAN Lake Placid. Photo: Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images for IRONMAN<\/p>\n

Full-distance rookie Paula Findlay won IRONMAN Lake Placid<\/a> on board a Specialized, the same brand Evenepoel used to win the ITT stage today. Findlay was spotted posing in front of her Shiv machine before her win. She\u2019s a two-time winner of the Canadian National TT Championships, and took silver this year.<\/p>\n

Pogacar\u2019s Colnago bikes have garnered lots of attention. He has been spotted riding the road stages on the Y1Rs. In the time trial he rode to second place on the Colnago TT2, a time trial bike that allows his mechanics to build it out close to the UCI weight limit, which is a staggering 6.8km minimum weight. The time trial machine gets close to this weight with a 1x drivetrain and carbon everything.<\/p>\n

The final stages of the race will be very exciting. With two of the podium steps up for grabs, the final stages will be incredibly competitive. The racing outcome will have a lot to do with how Pogacar\u2019s team decides to command the race. Stage 17, which is defined as a hilly stage, will offer one of the last chances for a bunch sprint before the finale in Paris, and back to back finishes on Alpe d\u2019Huez for stages 18 and 19 will surely bring the cream of the crop to the top.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Remco Evenepoel Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images by Sean Mackinnon The Individual Time Trial at stage 16 of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-817904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}