Remco Evenepoel (Soudal QuickStep) has abandoned the Tour de France on the road during today's stage 14. The Belgian rider went out the back of the peloton, among a lot of riders in trouble today, immediately the Col du Tourmalet began.
After being dropped he struggled on for a period, and handed his bottles to kids on the roadside. He then pulled out of the line in the group he was in and minutes later stopped and got into his team car.
Evenepoel - the world and Olympic TT champion - had endured a tough day during the stage 13 mountain TT yesterday and was caught by Jonas Vingegaard ((Visma | Lease a Bike) for two minutes.
However, he remained 3rd overall starting out today - some 7:24 down on race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG). Evenepoel was also leading the young rider classification. He abandoned with just over 100km remaining on today's stage from Pau to Superbagnères.
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While is was suspected Evenepoel was ill, that was not the case. The Belgian said after the stage that he simply had nothing left, wasn't capable of being competitive and felt he had to abandon.
"I didn’t have the best preparation coming into the Tour, but I did everything I could to be in the best possible shape. Sadly, I just wasn’t at 110 per cent, which is what you need at the Tour de France to fight for the general classification," he said.
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"For three days already I wasn’t feeling good, and today in the morning I could feel I was empty. And then on the climb the legs just weren’t there. It’s a pity I had to retire, but it’s not something that will change my relationship with the race."
Remco Evenepoel w tym momencie wycofuje się z #TdF2025 :O
Pierwszy na Tourmalet podąża Lenny Martínez. pic.twitter.com/WJ3mB3AiBP
— ?.?ł???? (@sportsfan_pl) July 19, 2025
Remco has been distanced in the opening kilometers of the Tourmalet, but he is riding at his own pace to limit the damage today at the #TDF2025 ?
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 19, 2025
