The 33-km individual time trial set around Caen on day 5 of the 2025 Tour de France 2025 saw Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) dominate the day. Evenepoel claimed a second stage win in the Tour, thus becoming the third rider to dominate ITTs in different editions of the Tour as the reigning world champion. Pogacar pulls on the Maillot Jaune as the new overall leader of the race, 42” ahead of Evenepoel. Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) dropped down to the 6th position (+1’28”) after three days in the Maillot Jaune.
Affini Sets the Tone
Kazakhstan and Asian champion Yegueniy Fedorov had just enough time to set a first reference, rapidly beaten by Pablo Castrillo. The Spanish rider is then overtaken by the youngest rider in the peloton, none other than his Movistar teammate Ivan Romeo, who is also the U23 ITT world champion.
His time seemed under threat from Luke Plapp, who beat him at all the intermediate time checkpoints, but the Australian champion faltered in the final stretch. It was quite the opposite for European champion Edoardo Affini, who put in a stunning performance, finishing 30 seconds ahead of his Spanish rival with an average speed of 53.2 km/h.
Evenepoel Ups the Ante
The ITT French champion Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) delivers a very strong finish but he is 2 seconds shy of claiming the hot seat. Then, nobody comes close to Affini’s time until the best GC contenders set off a couple of hours later.
The intensity picks up with the arrival of Florian Lipowitz, stronger than his leader and former Olympic champion Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). But it was the world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) who really upped the ante, relegating Affini to 33 seconds behind with an average speed of 54.0 km/h.
“You never know what can happen in a time trial, but I was incredibly motivated today. I knew I had a formidable bike and a good chance to take the victory, and fortunately, the legs were there and everything went as planned from start to finish. I am happy with this result and with our team’s second success of the week, as it makes us more relaxed.”
“I pushed a steady tempo, a bit harder on the uphill parts, and in the end, I kept the same pace I had in the opening kilometers and continued to gain time on the others. I am content with the way I paced myself and with moving up on the overall standings of the race. It was an important chance for me to gain time on the others and the fact I did it gives me a lot of confidence”, Remco said after the stage.
Pogacar in Yellow
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is the closest to the Belgian star (+16”), which earns him the Maillot Jaune, on top of the green and polka dot jerseys, with a lead of 42” to Evenepoel.
Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) completes the GC top-3 (+59”) ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who finished 13th on the day and now trails by 1’13”, while Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) drops down to the 6th position (+1’28”) after his three days with the Maillot Jaune.
“I am super happy with how I rode today. To be 16 seconds behind the world champion, the Olympic champion, the best time trialist in the world right now [Remco Evenepoel], I am super super happy. To gain time on the GC and only lose a little bit to Remco, I am super happy.
“It’s a very good day and I am happy, but I am just happy that this day is over and we can focus now on the next days and keep this ball rolling in the Tour de France.
“The most important is Yellow, but the most important is to have it on the Champs-Élysées on the finish line. Now, it feels good, but the important thing is to have it in Paris.
“This year the parcours is designed really hectic so we have to be careful in every stage. So far, it has been really nervous and super hard, so I think tomorrow and the next days will be the same. We need to keep control, we keep calm, and we believe in ourselves. In the team, we have super strong riders and we believe in one goal. We will keep riding just as we did up to this point,” Pogacar said after the stage.
Stage 5 Brief Results:
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) @ 36′ 42″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) @ 16″
- Edoardo Affini (Visma Lease a Bike) @ 33″
- Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) @ 35″
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea- B&B Hotels) @ 49″
General Classification After Stage 5:
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) @ 17h 22′ 58″
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) @ 42″
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea- B&B Hotels) @ 59″
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) @ 1’13”
- Matteo Jorgensen (Visma Lease a Bike) @ 1’22”
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