Distressed Remco Evenepoel withdraws early from Tour de France
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), holder of the white jersey, abandoned the Tour de France during Saturday’s 14th stage. The double world champion began to struggle early on the Col du Tourmalet, eventually climbing into his team car around 100 kilometres from the finish line in Luchon-Superbagnères, looking visibly emotional.
Evenepoel started the day in third place overall and was wearing the white jersey for the best young rider, but he had already shown signs of faltering during the previous two Pyrenean stages. He is the fourth Belgian rider to quit this year's Tour, after Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jasper De Buyst (Lotto) and Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) withdrew.
Mounting trouble
Earlier in the race, Evenepoel impressed by winning the fifth stage — the individual time trial in Caen — in dominant fashion. At that point, nothing suggested that he would struggle so severely in the high mountains. However, he lost three and a half minutes on Thursday's climb to Hautacam, and a further two and a half minutes in Friday's time trial to Peyragudes.
It was clear that a podium finish in Paris was slipping out of reach. On Saturday, en route to Superbagnères, the 24-year-old from Flanders broke down completely. He was dropped in the early kilometres of the Tourmalet climb, where he had a bad day during the 2023 Vuelta. This time, he exited the race in visible disarray, whereas back then he recovered to win two stages.
This was Evenepoel’s second Tour de France. He finished third on his debut last year. This marks his third withdrawal from a Grand Tour, having also failed to finish the Giro d’Italia in 2021 and 2023.
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