Remco Evenepoel claimed his first stage win of the 2026 Tour de France on Stage 15, out-sprinting Tadej Pogačar and Isaac del Toro at the top of the Plateau de Solaison, an 11.3km climb averaging 9% that closed out the race’s second week.
The 183.9km stage from Champagnole was shaped by a large early breakaway before the general classification contenders came together on the final climb. Evenepoel was the only rider able to respond when Pogačar and Del Toro accelerated at the front. Del Toro attacked twice inside the final kilometre but couldn’t shake Evenepoel, who matched both moves before coming around in the final sprint to take the victory, ahead of Del Toro and Pogačar.
“To win this beautiful stage is amazing, to get this victory and to go to the rest day with this feeling (…) Taking the stage, arriving with Tadej and Isac, putting others on quite a big gap is amazing,” said Evenepoel. “And then now we have a good rest day and a beautiful day on Tuesday where I’ll try to go for the stage again.”
The stage also reshaped the general classification. Jonas Vingegaard crashed on the descent earlier in the stage and was forced to withdraw from the race, promoting Evenepoel to second overall, a result that puts Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe firmly in the fight for the podium heading into the final week. Evenepoel, who started the day third at 5:04 behind Pogačar, is now positioned second in the GC heading into the second rest day.
Evenepoel now heads into the second rest day in second overall, with the Tour resuming on Stage 16 with an individual time trial, a discipline that has long been one of the Belgian’s greatest strengths.
