Remco Evenepoel abandons Tour de France after blowing up on Tourmalet, Florian Lipowitz climbs into third on GC
Updated 19/07/2025 at 14:11 GMT+1
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A day on from his disastrous mountain time trial, Remco Evenepoel withdrew from the 2025 Tour de France. The Belgian was dropped early on Saturday and soon pulled over to abandon. His exit promotes Florian Lipowitz onto the podium, although the general classification should see another shake-up on Stage 14. Evenepoel finished third at the Tour last year behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.
'Really frustrated' - Evenepoel tells cameras to 'go away' as he exits Tour de France
Video credit: TNT Sports
Remco Evenepoel has abandoned the Tour de France.
The Belgian (Soudal Quick-Step) was third in the general classification and held the white jersey for best young rider, but shipped time on Friday's mountain time trial and was dropped early on Saturday.
After battling on for a few kilometres, Evenepoel pulled to the side of the road and got in the team car.
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) takes over Evenepoel's place on the virtual podium, with Britain's Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) climbing into fourth. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is the runaway leader, 4'07" ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Evenepoel endured a torrid time in the Pyrenees. He was dropped twice in the mountains on Thursday, then suffered the ignominy of being overtaken by his two-minute man, Vingegaard, in Friday's time trial. He pulled no punches afterwards, calling it a "really bad performance".
The Olympic and world TT champion cracked for a final time on Stage 14, dropping back as UAE drove the pace on the front of the peloton.
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Evenepoel dropped early, then gets 'angry' with camera bike following him
Video credit: TNT Sports
He showed flashes of anger as the camera bike followed his plight before he exited the race.
"It's just a shame for the race, for the fans, for Belgium," said Adam Blythe on TNT Sports commentary.
"It's never nice to see anyone go out the Tour de France, but when you're in a jersey it's even harder to deal with."
- 'I almost blew up' - Pogacar digs deep as he's tipped to win EIGHT stages at 2025 Tour
- 'Tour is far from over' - Vingegaard bullish about chances despite latest Pogacar masterclass
Evenepoel finished third at the Tour last year behind Pogacar and Vingegaard. He previously revealed his dream to win all three Grand Tours after sewing up the Vuelta a Espana in 2022.
He became the first man to do the Olympic road double at Paris 2024.
Mattias Skjelmose, who was 19th in the general classification, also abandoned after an early crash on Saturday.
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