Stage 5 of the 2025 Tour de France delivered the first major time gaps in the general classification fight as Remco Evenepoel powered to a dominant win in the 33km individual time trial around Caen. The Belgian world champion stopped the clock in 36:42, beating Tadej Pogačar by 16 seconds and climbing to second overall. Pogačar’s ride, which was enough to take yellow, left Jonas Vingegaard reeling after the Dane faltered across the rolling Normandy course.
The stage began with high expectations for the big three of the Tour, with the flat and fast parcours ideally suited to pure time trial specialists. Evenepoel lived up to that billing with a near-flawless ride, averaging just under 55 km/h, tucking low through the corners and keeping a consistent pace throughout. At the first intermediate checkpoint after 8km, he had already taken three seconds on Pogačar and nearly 20 on Vingegaard, a pattern that would only deepen as the day went on. By the second checkpoint, Evenepoel had widened the gap on the Slovenian to eight seconds and continued to grow his advantage over the rest.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Billy CeustersPogačar, however, was not far off. The Slovenian started the day 21 seconds behind Mathieu van der Poel in the GC, but flew through the opening section of the course and never looked under threat of losing time to anyone except Evenepoel. He pushed hard all the way to the finish, eventually stopping the clock at 36:58. That ride not only put him second on the stage, but also earned him the yellow jersey. He now leads the general classification by 42 seconds over Evenepoel.
Jonas Vingegaard, in contrast, suffered a clear off day. He was visibly struggling from the start, his position looking stiff and his power output never quite matching the fluidity of his rivals. He finished over a minute behind Evenepoel and was later quoted as saying, “My legs were not feeling good.” His time loss was unexpected given his usual reliability in time trials, but it leaves him fourth overall, 1:13 off yellow. “That surprised me a bit,” he admitted. “But sometimes that’s cycling.”
For Evenepoel, the victory felt like payback after a frustrating opening weekend where he lost time in the crosswinds. “This is kind of revenge for last Saturday,” he said. “I was motivated to prove something to the team and give something back after the bad start.” The Belgian admitted he had hoped to take more time from Pogačar, but acknowledged the difficulty in doing so. “Seventeen seconds is not a lot over 33km, but it shows again why Tadej is the best rider in the world.”
Pogačar’s performance went a long way in addressing any doubts raised after his Dauphiné time trial last month, where he lost time to both Evenepoel and Vingegaard. “I was not expecting to be so far ahead of Jonas,” he said. “It was a flat TT and he’s the lightest of the three of us, so maybe not best suited for him.”
While Pogačar pulled on the yellow jersey, Evenepoel also had cause for optimism, saying he was happy with the pacing and focus of his effort. “It was pretty much the perfect TT for me,” he said. “Everything was on point today.”
With back-to-back punchy uphill finishes on the cards in stages 6 and 7, there is little time to regroup. Evenepoel was quick to point out that these stages will favour Pogačar. “I’m not really sure he has the opportunity to give yellow away,” he said. “I guess he will ride his own race and try to keep it.” Pogačar, for his part, said the GC battle was still wide open. “You cannot discount any GC riders up to the top 10. Jonas will try the most – he’s the most hungry to gain back time.”
The Tour may only be five days old, but this was the first serious shake-up. Evenepoel confirmed his credentials, Pogačar took control, and Vingegaard now finds himself on the back foot.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Jonathan Biche2025 Tour de France Stage 5 result
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Main photo credit: A.S.O./Billy Ceusters
