Tour de France 2023: Vingegaard and Pogacar do battle in stage 16 time trial – live | Tour de France 2023

Stitched into a yellow skinsuit that looks painted on, the race leader and defending champion is the last man out of the starter’s hut, taking care to avoid the slippery section on the first corner that did for a few riders earlier this afternoon.

In second place on GC, just 10 seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard, the two-times Tour winner from Slovenia rolls down the ramp.

The Belgian knocks 15 seconds off Remi Cavagna’s time, coming home in 35min 27sec. The Frenchman waves to the camera and vacates his hot seat. Au revoir, Remi. Chapeau.

Jai Hindley sets off: In fifth place on GC, the Australian pedals his way out of the hut. David Gaudu, on whom I foolishly stuck £5 to win this year’s Tour, is further up the road. I could have bought a pint with that money. Or just throw it in the bin.

An email: “Wout did NOT change bikes, and he knows a thing or three about bikes and time trials,” writes Jeremy Boyce.

Wout van Aert: Heavy is the head that wears the crown and Remi Cavagny is looking a little weighed down on the leader’s throne. It looks like Wout van Aert is about to take the lead, one the Frenchman probably expected to lose some time ago. Sepp Kuss sets off from the starter’s hut.

Guillaume Martin: Tenth on General Classification, the Cofidis rider sets off. We’re at the business end of this time trial now.

Wout van Aert The Beglian was fourth fastest at the bottom of the climb to the finish and is seven seconds slower than Cavagna, whose minutes on the leader’s throne look like they could be numbered.

Julian Alaphilippe: Smiling under the visor of his aerodynamic helmet and waving to the crowd, the French legend crosses the finish line 1min 43sec down.

Ciccone does it! He is 40 seconds quicker than Neilson Powless on the climb and guarantees himself the polka-dot jersey for another day at least. There’s plenty more climbing to be done, however, tomorrow’s stage has two category one climbs, a category two, and a HC. Saturday’s stage into Le Markstein Fellering has several brutish ascents too.

Giulio Ciccone: In the polka-dot jersey, the Italian is well on his way up the final climb, having swapped his TT bike for his climbing conveyance. He needs to hit the climb at 30min 29sec to beat Neilson Powless to take maximum points, although some of the GC lads could hoover them up later.

Bike changes: “Re: seconds wasted changing bikes for what gain (an email passim),” writes James Cavell. “If you lose 15 seconds changing bike – then ride up the climb 20 seconds faster than you would have on the TT bike – it’s a gain of five seconds.

“TT bikes are optimized for aerodynamics, they use thicker shaped frames. When you include this along with their deep-section and disc or deep-rim wheels TT bikes can be around 1-2kg heavier than road bikes.

“A road bike set up to do just one climb would probably be stripped of any excess weight and right at the UCI legal limit. This could mean up to 2kg less weight the rider has to propel up the hill, which could certainly make more of a difference than the time taken to switch bikes. Big budget teams will have worked all this out in advance.”

Ion Izaguirre: The Spanish rider, already a stage-winner on this Tour, finishes just over a minute slower than our clubhouse leader Remi Cavagna.

One of today’s big favorites, the Belgian all-rounder sets off with his Jumbo-Visma team currently in possession of the yellow jersey but still looking for their first stage win on this year’s Tour.

Just 23 riders left to start: And they’re the cream of the peloton. Soudal-Quick Step rider Remi Cavagna has posted the fastest time of the day at 35min 42sec.

Bike changes: Who knew the subject of men dismounting one bicycle to throw their leg over another could spark such a fascinating debate? “One of the factors UAE must have factored into their calculations is a smooth bike change,” writes Dan Fraser. “Hopefully there’s no fumble costing the few seconds which could determine the Tour. The mechanics must have been out on the rest day practicing like an F1 pit crew.”

By all accounts they were, although I suspect that, having seen what happened to Stefan Kung, their day may have been wasted. I reckon Pogacar might abandon his plans to switch bikes.

Stefan Kung: His face is a mask of pain, Stefan Kung finishes the course 52 seconds slower than our leader, Remi Cavagna, who remains in the leader’s gaming chair. It isn’t a patch on the throne Bradley Wiggins got to sit on as leader during the London Olympics time trial.

Neilson Powless: The American was quickest up today’s category two climb in a time of 7min 24sec, a full 20 seconds faster than anyone else. As things stand, that’s the time Giulio Ciccone needs to beat in the duo’s duel for the King of the Mountains jersey.

Changing bikes: “Changing bike is not always a given,” writes Jeremy Boyce. “Ask Geraint. Maybe Michael Forbes would be ok if they had to change to a Penny-Farthing? Bike change sounds like precious seconds wasted to me, for what gain? It’s high risk and asks a lot of the riders to get back up to speed. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pogacar ignore the change if he’s going well.”

On Eurosport, Robbie McEwen says he thinks this climb isn’t long enough to justify a bike change and it certainly doesn’t seem to have helped Stefan Kung.

The Eurosport commentary team is also pondering the potential benefits of hiring Usain Bolt, or a member of a bobsleigh team as a “mechanic” to help give the riders a push-off once they swap one bike for another. If you’re changing bikes, you should have to get back up to speed yourself without assistance, in my opinion.

Stefan Kung: Scrap that – Kung has lost a lot of time on the climb and will not be taking Cavagna’s lead. It’s less than an hour until Tadej Pogacar goes out at 3.58 pm (BST), with Jonas Vingegaard due to head off at 4 pm. Resplendent in a polka-dot skinsuit and helmet, Giulio Ciccone is sitting in the starter’s hut and will be off soon.

Stefan Kung: A compatriot of Mr. Gianetti’s, Stefan Kung changed from his TT bike to his road bike as he started going uphill. He’s putting in a fine effort and looks likely to take Remi Cavagna’s lead.

Mauro Gianetti: Simon Gates has been in touch to let me know that the UAE Emirates directeur sportif is Swiss and not Italian, as I claimed. The thing is that I actually know what he says, but absentmindedly repatriated him, possibly because he sounds Italian and looks a little like the former referee Pierluigi Collina, who is Italian. Apologies, Mauro.

Neilson Powless: In the battle for the King of the Mountains, Neilson Powless is on his way up the pertinent climb going at full gas.

Stefan Kung: The Swiss is fastest through the first time check at 10min 36sec, six seconds quicker than Remi Cavagna, who had previously been quickest.

Remi Cavagna: The French champion’s time of 35min 42sec remains the one to beat with 47 riders left to start and 83 already back in the clubhouse having finished the course.

Bike changes: “Call me a purist, but I don’t think bike changes should be allowed,” writes David Ballagh. “And for the hilly courses perhaps there should be a drop bar-only rule implemented. I would love to see more TT’s done using nothing but a rider and their standard road bike; makes the sport more relatable to the majority of cyclists, in my humble opinion.” I wouldn’t disagree with any of that.

Stefan Kung: The Groupama-FDJ rider is one of the best time trialists in the business and sets off but doesn’t fancy his chances in today’s stage.

“I would characterize it as a mountain time trial,” the 29-year-old Swiss told Cycling Weekly last week. “You have some flat sections but they are short compared to all the uphill we have to conquer. It’s 700 meters 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.”

While he may not win today, whatever time he posts is likely to be one Messrs Pogacar and Vingegaard take note of.

Neilson Powless: The American is out on the road, tied on King of the Mountain points with Giulio Ciccone. There are five up for grabs on today’s category two climb, the Cote de Domancy, which is near the end of the stage, 2.5km in length, 820m high, and has an average gradient of 9.4 percent.

Riders are timed from the bottom of the climb to the top and whoever’s quickest gets the points. The ascent doesn’t end there, however, as there’s a ramp followed by another uphill dig to the finish line.

Changing bikes: “It shouldn’t be allowed,” writes Michael Forbes. “Riders should be finishing the stage with the same type of bike as they started with. Or even better, they should simply use TT bikes for the whole stage. Thoughts?”

I’m with Sean Kelly on this one in so far as I don’t think it makes much difference. Tadej Pogacar’s boss seems to think much the same.

Tadej Pogacar: Dressed in his civvies, the Slovenian rider has arrived at his team bus ahead of his 3.58 pm (BST) tee-off time. His team director Mauro Gianetti is interviewed on Eurosport and says that Pogacar will be changing bikes ahead of the final climb.

“We do our tests,” says the Italian. “We realize changing the bike takes some time but in terms of time also gives some benefit. Maybe not so much, only two or three seconds … five, maybe … but in our calculations, it gives some advantage.”

Tony Gallopin: “After asking about Gallopin’ Tony on an earlier stage (he’s in my fantasy TdF team but I’ve never heard him mentioned for having any impact on the race) he finally gets a mention,” writes James Davison. “Chapeau to him and thanks to you.”

Kasper Asgreen: The Soudal-Quick Step rider stops the clock at 36min 17sec, a full 35 seconds slower than his teammate Remi Cavagna, who remains in the leader’s chair for now but has stated in an interview that he knows his time will be beaten. He’s probably right but his 35min 42sec is the benchmark.

A potential Sunday showdown: “Regarding the convention of Sunday’s stage being a ‘ceremonial procession’,” writes James Cavell. “In 2005, Alexandre Vinokourov and Levi Leipheimer were only two seconds apart, in fifth and sixth place. Vinokourov attacked during the final kilometer of the ‘ceremonial procession’ and because of his stage win and bonus seconds, overtook Leipheimer for fifth position overall.

“So Pogacar (or Vingegaard) could feasibly do something similar if the difference is a handful of seconds. But 2005 was still a different era, where it was less ‘not normal’ for a rider to be able to hold off the sprinter’s teams in the final moments.”

Bryan Coquard and Benoit Cosnefroy: The French duo ride over the finish line together, laughing and joking having playfully shaped to contest a sprint finish to keep the crowd entertained.

An email: “It would be nice if you would mention the names of the riders now on the road,” writes June. “They all deserve some recognition for a tough tour so far and they have ridden well for their teammates. So come on, mention them, please. The top dogs didn’t get there without their supporting riders so come on mention them.”

There are 157 of them, June! It’s difficult to get around to them all and besides, most of them are treating today as a second consecutive rest day.

Tony Gallopin, who seems to have been around forever but is somehow still only 35 years old has just set off. The Lidl-Trek rider, who has also announced his plan to retire at the end of the season, gets a big cheer from the crowd and sets off with a big smile on his face.

80 riders to go: A reminder that Wout van Aert rolls down the ramp shortly after 3.19 pm (BST), Tadaj Pogacar is scheduled to set off at 3.58 pm and our race leader Jonas Vingegaard is the last man out of the starter’s hut at 4 pm on the dot.

There are King of the Mountains points up for grabs today as well, so Giulio Ciccone (3.03 pm) and Neilson Powless (2.22 pm) will be waging their private war.

Remi Cavagna: The French champion and Soudal-Quick Step rider is our new clubhouse leader with a time of 35min 42sec. That’s more like it …

An interesting question: “With the convention that the final stage is nothing more than a ceremonial procession, due to the almost impossibility for a team to make a break, what would happen if Pogacar takes 9 or 10 seconds off Jonas today and they finish together for the remaining stages?” asks Ian Haslam. “Would it be all bets off, winner takes all, showdown?”

Considering all the sprinters will have their eye on a stage win in Paris, there is almost zero chance of either Jumbo-Visma or UAE Emirates, who will of course be marking each other closely, managing to orchestrate a breakaway in the final stage.

If there’s only a handful of seconds between Pogacar and Vingegaard at the start of the final stage, I suppose race etiquette and tradition, not to mention the difficulty of whoever is second on GC managing to pull a fast one, dictates whoever is in yellow going into the final day will win.

Time trial cut-offs: “Each stage is given a coefficient number with a percentage of finishing time to be added to the actual finishing time,” writes Rich Ainger. “These are 1-5. However, only time trials can be given a coefficient of six for difficulty – with a flat rate of 25% of the winner’s time being marked as the time cut.

“So the teams know that they have 25% of the finishing time (which they can roughly work out through data I’m assuming) to work with. I hope that makes sense.”

Nikias Arndt: The German Bahrain Victorious rider is the new stage leader with a time of 37min 19sec. He takes over from Dries Devenyns, who has announced his retirement from bike racing at the end of this season.

“Today I want to announce that I will be retiring from professional cycling at the end of this season,” he said on Instagram. “I rolled into the sport of cycling at the age of 15. In the beginning, I didn’t take it too seriously and I rode for fun, though going to local kermesse races, together with my parents and brothers, sparked something inside of me.

“After graduating from my studies at Ghent University, I took the opportunity to join the pro peloton, and since then I have enjoyed a 17-year-long career at the highest level. I got to ride for some beautiful teams, but my time at the IAM Cycling team and especially the many years at the famous Soudal Quick-Step team, have been unforgettable.”

“I crossed the finish line in first, with my hands in the air, only a few times, but mainly got down to work for others, and helping some of the world’s best cyclists. Seeing them win the biggest races in the sport, and being part of the team’s achievements, has been a dream come true.

“I have so many people to thank, that I am afraid I may forget someone. But I have to start with my parents and brothers and my friends for their unconditional support. To my wife, Nathalie, and my children, I am forever grateful. Being a professional cyclist and spending so much time away from home is not only hard for us, but also for our families, and I cannot thank you enough for your love and understanding.

“And then on to Patrick of course, teammates, all the mechanics, soigneurs, communications team, doctors, and team staff that I have worked with over the years, and to everybody else that has supported me: Thanks for everything. It has been a wonderful adventure.”

Remy Cavagna: Wearing the French national champion’s jersey, the Soudal-Quick-Step rider scorches past his teammate Yves Lampaert.