Tourist
The time trial on the fifth stage of the Tour de France in Caen was considered a “race of truth” in advance. With Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar, the day not only produces two big winners. Florian Lipowitz also includes. The big loser is Jonas Vingegaard.
There wasn’t much going on behind the yellow podium of the Tour de France. Up to six drivers frolic there on other days to be honored for the day’s victory or one of the rating jerseys. In Caen at the end of the time driving of the sixth stage, there were only two people there: the stage winner Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar, who has the yellow, the green and the mountain jersey in its possession after only five tours.
In the competition for the white jersey of the best young driver, the Slovenian is no longer allowed to take part in this, at the age of 26 he is too old. In this rating, even Evenepoel, 25th Pogacar and Evenepoel posed arm in arm behind the podium and obviously enjoyed their numerous appearances at the front on the stage. The two were allowed to feel like the big winners of the day. And not just because of the stage result, which Evenpoel listened to Pogacar with a 16 second lead.
Sportschau Tourfunk, July 9th, 2025 7:50 p.m.
Pogacar “near perfection”
Pogacar described the time trial after his stage victory the day before. The truth after the 33 kilometers of fight against the clock is: the Slovenian has come a good step closer to its fourth tour victory. Because the big loser of the day was his greatest rival: Jonas Vingegaard.
The Dane delivered a moderate time trial at best and finished 13th with 1,21 minutes behind Evenepoel and 1,05 minutes on Pogacar. The Slovenian was against it “Near the perfection”as the sporting director of the UAE team, Andrej Hauptman, put it afterwards. “I was surprised. I didn’t expect to be so far ahead of him in this time trial. I had more expected that he would be closer to Remco than I” “said Pogacar, whether the unexpected weakness of his competitor: “Maybe he didn’t have the best day out there.”
Vingegaard has a “difficult day”
That’s exactly how it was. “It was a difficult day for me. I had a pretty bad day. So that’s sometimes “Vingegaard told the Danish television station TV2 before disappearing to the doping test. A flat time trial, like the around Caen, is the very worst day for a bad day, which you can hide on a normal stage with the help of teammates. “He lost time throughout the time driving”the sports director of the Visma-Lease A Bike, Grischa Niermann, stated.
Vingegaard’s gap to Pogacar in the overall ranking is already 1,13 minutes. The tour winner of 2022 and 2023 in Caen already broadcast something like antered slogan when he explained that the tour was still long and he still believes that it was feasible. The touring victory of course, but it is now on the defensive. His sports director Grischa Niermann was right when he said: “This minute will have to find somewhere if Jonas wants to win the tour.”
Vingegaard is now in fourth place in the classification, while the day winner Remco Evenepoel advanced to second overall (+ 42 seconds). This is followed by the Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin (+59 seconds), who in his home region, cheered on by the masses on the roadside, delivered the time trial of his life and was also one of the winners that day.
Lipowitz is one of the winners of the day
The German hope of Florian Lipowitz, who ended the time trial as sixth and was only 58 seconds slower than Evenepoel, world champion and Olympic champion in this discipline. “I didn’t expect that myself”the 24-year-old was amazed from Swabian: “I am more than satisfied. I didn’t start the tour so well, I also doubted me a bit, so that’s a bit of bright spot for the coming days.”
Lipowitz now goes into the ninth of the overall ranking with around two and a half minutes behind Pogacar and a second behind his team captain Primoz Roglic, who stayed under his possibilities in the fight against the clock. Pogacar was asked at the subsequent press conference whether he was only keeping an eye on Vingegaard or the Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe team. “I always look at everyone, not just one”Pogacar replied: “After today, no one can ignore anyone among the top ten.”