Stage 16: Evian-les-Bains → Thonon-les-Bains: Remco Evenepoel devours the time trial, and 54 players had it right

Twenty-six kilometers against the clock, 9 km of climbing as an appetizer facing Lake Geneva, and Remco Evenepoel who pulls off a time trial performance from another planet to beat Tadej Pogacar and Mattias Skjelmose. The yellow jersey stays firmly on Pogi's shoulders, who can breathe easy despite the Belgian riding lesson.

Out of 253 ballots, only 54 had ticked Evenepoel as winner - and what flair! Stéph, Hubogoss, Stan, Gabilou, Mat52, JefPeet, Cyriel, bill, AdamCed, Seppe, KoenWeber, momo, Louka and Jor are among the happy few to have sensed the Belgian wind blowing from the shores of Lake Geneva. The Belgian nationality of the winner (same bet, same score: 54 out of 252) confirms it was far from obvious for the majority. On the other hand, the podium was much more generous: 203 players out of 253 had Evenepoel-Pogacar-Skjelmose in the right order, and 182 had bet that the yellow jersey wouldn't change shoulders. A fine collective harvest on those two.

As for best stage of the day, six players share the top spot with 49 points each: AdamCed, Bavo, ChristopheSpa, DriesVdb, Fredo and Gabilou. A fine gathering. The day's biggest climb belongs without question to Bavo, who jumps 61 places to land at rank 120 - a rocket launched from the bottom of the standings.

Overall, Hubogoss consolidates his yellow jersey in the contest with 546 points and a two-point lead over maxime patin (544 pts, 2nd) - a razor-sharp duel that has been going on since the early stages and promises to be decided all the way to Paris. Mich_Mich remains solid 3rd (490 pts), and Stéph climbs to 4th place (423 pts) after his fine stage. Further down, spectacular climbs steal the show: RikVH and ChristopheSpa both gain 16 places, Simon Horn and HugoBraquet each gain 9, and Nand makes a breakthrough of 19 ranks to settle in 20th. Among the 76 players who came away empty-handed on this stage, the time trial was clearly an exercise too solitary - even for predictions.