The China Mail - Evenepoel triumphs in Tour de France time trial as Pogacar slips into yellow

World and Olympic champion Evenepoel completed the course in 36min 42sec at a blistering average speed of 54 km/h.

He finished 16 seconds quicker than Pogacar with the Italian Edoardo Affini 33sec off the stage lead in third.

Pogacar now leads the general classification with a 42sec advantage over Evenepoel who collected his second stage win on the Tour de France, having triumphed in the time trial in Gevrey-Chambertin last year on his debut in the Grande Boucle.

"I knew I had a good chance but, of course, the legs still have to be there and everything has to go to plan," said Evenepoel whose Soudal Quick-Step team-mate Tim Merlier won stage 3 two days ago.

"In the end I think it was pretty good. I didn't really feel like I could go any faster, so I think in general I'm happy with the result.

"It's a second stage win for our team, it's super nice."

Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard, who began the day just 8sec behind the yellow jersey Van der Poel, had a poor day as the Dane could only finish 13th in the stage -- 1min 21sec behind Evenepoel -- to slip to 1min 13sec behind Pogacar in the new standings.

He drops to fourth overall with local rider Kevin Vauquelin moving up to third after a hugely-impressive ride that saw him finish fifth on the day.

"I'm over the moon, really," said an emotional Vauquelin.

"I think I can only experience this once in my life. To see everyone looking at me, cheering me on, it's incredible.

"For a 24-year-old just starting out in the professional world, it's just incredible."

Dutchman Van der Poel also struggled to maintain the pace, coming in 18th, 1min 44sec behind the winner, dropping him down to sixth overall.

Evenepoel was the nailed-on favourite to win the stage given his astonishing record in time trials.

The Flemish rider, who has been wearing a golden helmet since his Olympic double, is virtually invincible in this exercise.

He has won the last six stages in which he has taken part, and nine out of 12 since the start of 2024. This was his 64th career victory, of which 21 have come in time trials.

"Tadej rode a very big stage too," said Evenepoel.

"Compared to the Dauphine (in June), he took a big step forward. He showed that he's in great form and that he's the man to beat in this Tour.

"As for me, I've taken a step towards the podium but there's still a long way to go."

Thursday serves up the second longest stage of this year's Tour with 3,500 metres of elevation over a 201.5km route through Normandy which starts in Vauquelin's home town of Bayeux and ends with a short, steep climb to the finish in Vire Normandie.

E.Lau--ThChM