OFFICIAL Stage 16 Results: Florian Lipowitz ABANDONS!

[Laurens De Jong]

Hello, Tour de France Gamers!

 

STAGE Grade: B-

 

I rate today’s stage a B-. A time trial is the least watchable of all bike races. I enjoyed the course, a triptych of time trial challenges. Losing Florian Lipowitz because of a crash is surprising, and has general classification implications — as did Remco Evenepoel’s win and the fact that Tadej Pogačar lost relatively little time.

 

Route: 3/5         GC: 3/5             Tactics: 2/5       Sprint: 1/5         Surprises: 2/5

 

 

If Evenepoel had won today by a margin of two minutes, there would be an imaginary battle for the overall victory. If he hadn’t won at all, there would be a battle for second place. As it is, and the form Evenepoel is in, I think both races have been run.

 

Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas lost more than a minute to Evenepoel. The Belgian is climbing better than ever, he’s not going to lose that time to either of them. Evenepoel himself thinks that losing Lipowitz is a blow — but with or without help, I don’t see how Evenepoel had a chance of going up or down from where he is today.

 

There is still a battle brewing for third place, though: Seixas gained a few seconds on del Toro. There’s twenty seconds between them, plenty to race for in the Alps starting Thursday.

 

The green jersey battle is also undecided. Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen spared themselves as much as possible; they’ll want their legs fresh and strong for Wednesday’s stage.

 

Speaking of Lipowitz’ crash — I’ve not read reports about it but to me it looked like the road got bumpy just before the apex. Sporza claimed he “completely misread the corner” but I don’t believe it. And I have reason to think I’m right: Pogačar had a big moment himself there. I wasn’t wrong when I claimed that Pogačar is the better bike handler. He put just enough weight over his tires to avoid a low-sider, and controlled his skipping rear wheel just enough not to run out of corner. It’s the kind of thing you can’t learn or fake, Pogačar really has that talent.

 

That’s about all I have to report about today’s stage. I can point out that Mattias Skjelmose raced a fantastic time trial, as did Thymen Arensman. But it doesn’t matter much for the general classification, all the top riders finished well today.

 

Joshua Tarling is on Team Chris, nobody else picked him and he’s our focus rider of the day. He finished tenth today, a good result for him no doubt — but I was surprised he beat Filippo Ganna. But when I looked up their head-to-head results in time trials, I was even more surprised that this is just the first grand tour they’re racing together. Tarling raced the 2024 Vuelta a España and the 2025 Giro d’Italia. In 2025, Ganna started the Tour and the Vuelta and in 2024 he only raced the Giro.

 

I thought Ganna might have a chance to set a good time today, he often does well on moderate climbs. And he did, eleventh. But Tarling beat him today, by five seconds.

 

Five times previously they have gone head to head in a time trial. Five times, Tarling finished 5^th or better. Five times, Ganna finished 2^nd or better. Sixth time is the charm for Tarling.

 

He’s young, 22, and every one of his nine wins as a pro cyclist was in the individual time trial. He’s a good pick for the AAVC Tour de France game if every stage is a time trial. Like all good time trial riders, he grew up on the velodromes. But he also raced cyclocross at a young age, sometimes in Belgium; and when he was 12, he raced a 100-mile time trial, finishing in four hours and 49 minutes. Keep that in mind the next time you do a century.

 

Watch NBC Sports’ Extended highlights HERE.

Read the TNT Sports report HERE.

 

Lipowitz’ abandon is similar to yesterday’s abandons: only Team Cameron and Team Grace had him.

 

Spoiler alert: There were no changes in the standings today.

 

Our game often settles into a cadence of the same teams winning every day. That’s true today. Team Ansel had eight riders in the Top-25 (a tie with three others); most points from the stage, a tie for most points from classifications, and most points overall.

 

Team Josh took second, and Team Caleb took sole possession of third place. Points from Ganna separated them from Team Matthew.

 

Team Tadej tied for most points from classifications and they took fourth today. Team Hugo were next, Team Matthew solo in sixth. Team Oliver in seventh and Team Wesley in eight. Team Charles in ninth and the top-ten is rounded up by Team Amalia. Two teams missed the boat today. Team Grace in eleventh and Team Cameron in twelfth place.

 

As we are entering the last few days of racing, let’s take stock of the standings. Team Ansel has a big lead: 140 points. We have had big gaps in daily results, but those always went in Team Ansel’s favor.

 

Comparing their teams, Lenny Martinez is Team Tadej’s best GC rider, against Team Ansel’s Mattias Skjelmose. Head-to-head, Martinez is not going to outscore Skjelmose by 140 points, so Team Tadej has to look elsewhere for those points. They have Romain Grégoire and Antonio Tiberi. Outsiders, at best. This race is run unless Skjelmose abandons, and even then it will be close.

 

On Thursday we’ll start three big mountain stages. Wednesday’s stage therefore will not be contested by the general classification riders. This stage is hard to predict. In theory, it can be controlled by the sprint teams. But they would have to work hard for that. There are a lot of tired legs in week three of the Tour, and they’re short a team: Soudal Quick-Step doesn’t care if there’s a bunch sprint on Wednesday. They have their three stage wins, and Tim Merlier has abandoned. A large breakaway is therefore slightly more likely. Mathieu van der Poel has announced he’ll do everything to win the stage.

 

Which is strange. A van der Poel type breakaway will almost certainly bring Mads Pedersen to the finish, too. That means that van der Poel winning will cost Jasper Philipsen points in the green jersey competition. Cycling is a team sport: will Philipsen’s chances be a factor in the race?

 

In the breakaway, van der Poel will beat Pedersen. I still hope to see a bunch sprint, though, and then I think Olav Kooij will win it. This will be a too-close-to-call kind of day.

 

Standings after stage 16:

 

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Ansel*	3833	1	0
2	Team Tadej*	3690	2	0
3	Team Josh*	3662	3	0
4	Team Hugo*	3400	4	0
5	Team Charles*	3245	5	0
6	Team Caleb*	3087	6	0
7	Team Matthew*	3011	7	0
8	Team Oliver*	2837	8	0
9	Team Amalia*	2622	9	0
10	Team Wesley*	2082	10	0
11	Team Grace*	1404	11	0
12	Team Cameron*	1103	12	0

 

Standings after stage 16 (including dogs and adults):

 

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Ansel*	3833	1	0
2	Team Kent	3713	2	0
3	Team Tadej*	3690	3	0
4	Team Kari	3681	4	0
5	Team Josh*	3662	5	0
6	Team Amelia	3638	6	0
7	Team Melanie	3555	7	0
8	Team Rob	3544	9	1
9	Team Eric	3519	8	-1
10	Team Jon	3456	10	0
11	Team Kurt	3403	11	0
12	Team Hugo*	3400	11	-1
13	Team Craig	3388	13	0
14	Team Jonwaine	3332	15	1
15	Team Julie	3331	14	-1
16	Team Charles*	3245	16	0
17	Team Laurens	3209	17	0
18	Team Ed	3189	18	0
19	Team Corsa	3113	19	0
20	Team Caleb*	3087	20	0
21	Team Matthew*	3011	22	1
22	Team Ambrose	3008	21	-1
23	Team Kate	2879	23	0
24	Team Grace	2851	24	0
25	Team Oliver*	2837	25	0
26	Team Ellie	2767	26	0
27	Team Jonathan	2732	30	3
28	Team Adam	2725	27	-1
29	Team Cameron	2711	29	0
30	Team Charlotte	2708	28	-2
31	Team Amalia*	2622	31	0
32	Team Suzanne	2502	33	1
33	Team Erin	2479	32	-1
34	Team Furner	2408	34	0
35	Team Allison	2325	35	0
36	Team Lichterman	2310	36	0
37	Team Chris	2161	38	1
38	Team Wesley	2146	37	-1
39	Team Wesley*	2082	39	0
40	Team Senna#	1985	40	0
41	Team Izzy	1958	41	0
42	Team Valerie	1473	42	0
43	Team Grace*	1404	43	0
44	Team Cameron*	1103	44	0
45	Team Sam	1097	45	0

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 16:

 

Name	STAGE RESULTS	YELLOW JERSEY	GREEN JERSEY	POLKA DOT JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Amalia*	136	27	5	7	5	44	180	2442	2622
Team Ansel*	181	48	13	8	12	81	262	3571	3833
Team Caleb*	171	37	9	8	9	63	234	2853	3087
Team Cameron*	53	16	2	5	2	25	78	1025	1103
Team Charles*	125	37	13	8	9	67	192	3053	3245
Team Grace*	59	13	4	5	0	22	81	1323	1404
Team Hugo*	149	40	10	11	12	73	222	3178	3400
Team Josh*	170	43	13	8	12	76	246	3416	3662
Team Matthew*	156	37	9	8	9	63	219	2792	3011
Team Oliver*	151	33	12	11	3	59	210	2627	2837
Team Tadej*	142	47	12	8	14	81	223	3467	3690
Team Wesley*	139	39	0	8	9	56	195	1887	2082

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 16 (including dogs and adults):

 

Name	STAGE RESULTS	YELLOW JERSEY	GREEN JERSEY	POLKA DOT JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Adam	120	34	7	10	12	63	183	2542	2725
Team Allison	108	24	8	6	9	47	155	2170	2325
Team Amalia*	136	27	5	7	5	44	180	2442	2622
Team Ambrose	137	37	13	8	9	67	204	2804	3008
Team Amelia	155	49	10	8	15	82	237	3401	3638
Team Ansel*	181	48	13	8	12	81	262	3571	3833
Team Caleb*	171	37	9	8	9	63	234	2853	3087
Team Cameron	128	35	9	10	9	63	191	2520	2711
Team Cameron*	53	16	2	5	2	25	78	1025	1103
Team Charles*	125	37	13	8	9	67	192	3053	3245
Team Charlotte	111	32	4	13	11	60	171	2537	2708
Team Chris	134	29	4	8	4	45	179	1982	2161
Team Corsa	134	40	12	8	12	72	206	2907	3113
Team Craig	141	42	12	12	12	78	219	3169	3388
Team Ed	140	37	12	8	9	66	206	2983	3189
Team Ellie	114	33	12	10	8	63	177	2590	2767
Team Eric	136	43	12	15	12	82	218	3301	3519
Team Erin	109	33	3	11	6	53	162	2317	2479
Team Furner	114	34	4	9	13	60	174	2234	2408
Team Grace	128	36	12	10	8	66	194	2657	2851
Team Grace*	59	13	4	5	0	22	81	1323	1404
Team Hugo*	149	40	10	11	12	73	222	3178	3400
Team Izzy	99	18	9	8	5	40	139	1819	1958
Team Jon	147	44	12	8	14	78	225	3231	3456
Team Jonathan	169	41	0	7	8	56	225	2507	2732
Team Jonwaine	185	52	0	11	14	77	262	3070	3332
Team Josh*	170	43	13	8	12	76	246	3416	3662
Team Julie	148	43	12	11	12	78	226	3105	3331
Team Kari	142	47	12	11	14	84	226	3455	3681
Team Kate	102	28	12	10	3	53	155	2724	2879
Team Kent	161	47	12	11	14	84	245	3468	3713
Team Kurt	143	43	13	15	11	82	225	3178	3403
Team Laurens	148	45	5	11	12	73	221	2988	3209
Team Lichterman	101	26	12	6	6	50	151	2159	2310
Team Matthew*	156	37	9	8	9	63	219	2792	3011
Team Melanie	137	40	13	11	12	76	213	3342	3555
Team Oliver*	151	33	12	11	3	59	210	2627	2837
Team Rob	181	48	12	8	12	80	261	3283	3544
Team Sam	73	17	0	6	4	27	100	997	1097
Team Senna#	91	22	9	7	0	38	129	1856	1985
Team Suzanne	141	37	3	8	9	57	198	2304	2502
Team Tadej*	142	47	12	8	14	81	223	3467	3690
Team Valerie	43	10	9	5	0	24	67	1406	1473
Team Wesley	106	24	9	7	0	40	146	2000	2146
Team Wesley*	139	39	0	8	9	56	195	1887	2082

 

Allez le Tour!

 

-Laurens.