Red Bull’s time trial dominance splits in two: Evenepoel’s second successive stage win, Lipowitz sidelined by crash

Remco Evenepoel won stage 16 of the Tour de France on July 22, 2026, a 56.6-kilometre individual time trial that doubled as a showcase of Red Bull's technical advantage in the discipline — and a brutal reminder of its risks. His margin of victory was 28 seconds over Tadej Pogačar, the race leader. Sixteen minutes before Evenepoel crossed the line, his Red Bull teammate Florian Lipowitz crashed at a tight right-hander with six kilometres remaining, fracturing his collarbone and suffering a suspected concussion.

Evenepoel, world champion and Olympic champion in the time trial, was unaware of Lipowitz's condition when he started. Red Bull's team management chose not to inform him, reasoning that news of a teammate's injury could unsettle a rider in the final kilometres of a race. "There were watery eyes in the car for two reasons," Jonny Wale, Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's technical performance manager, later reflected.

The stage victory was Evenepoel's second successive win at this Tour — he had claimed stage 15 on the Plateau de Solaison two days earlier. For Red Bull, it tightened their grip on second place overall, but the loss of Lipowitz, who had finished third in last year's Tour and was positioned as a co-leader for a potential double podium, fundamentally altered the team's race dynamics.

Evenepoel's preparation for the time trial differed markedly from a standardised approach. Red Bull's engineering department, led by head of engineering Dan Bigham, had spent months refining his position and equipment. When Evenepoel joined Red Bull last August, the team committed to discovering "if there was still meat on the bone" in his performance, according to Wale. This began with three days of wind tunnel testing in Morgan Hill, California, in October.

The engineering team constructed what Wale termed a "Tour de France" package specific to this course: customised front-end geometry, a bespoke skin suit, and a new Specialized gear shift that Evenepoel was the first rider to use. The aim was not a "cookie-cutter approach" but rather three or four tailored position and equipment options matched to the parcours.

Red Bull Advanced Technologies, a cross-sport division that originated within the Formula 1 team, developed a simulation tool intended to calculate the fastest theoretical line and effort distribution for any time-trial course. According to Wale, the simulation answers "wattage questions" — whether allocating an extra 10 watts to a specific section would reduce overall time. The tool factors in rider power potential and course physics, though Wale acknowledged the unpredictability of "the human body sitting on the bike that has to pedal it."

The stage itself tested both aerodynamics and technical skill. A fast climb from a high power position, the summit offering significant time gains or losses, was followed by a demanding technical descent marked by headwind sections and turbulent air channeling through valleys. Evenepoel's nickname, "the aero-bullet," reflects his ability to maintain an aerodynamic tuck while generating substantial power — an advantage magnified in headwind conditions. "The more headwind in the time trial, the better it normally is for Remco," said Red Bull directeur sportif Patxi Vila.

Red Bull's investment in time-trial specialisation has positioned the team as the discipline's technical leader, though Tuesday's race underscored the thin margins separating triumph from injury. Pogačar, who nearly crashed at the same corner where Lipowitz fell, finished 28 seconds behind Evenepoel — a gap that on this course reflected the precision of marginal gains and the vulnerability of high-speed cornering on a descent neither rider had reconnoitred under race conditions.