Tuesday 21 July – Tour de France stage 16: Évian-les-Bains → Thonon-les-Bains (26.1 km)

Route

Stage 16 of the Tour de France 2026 is an individual time trial of 26.1 kilometres along Lake Geneva. The riders start in Évian-les-Bains and finish in Thonon-les-Bains. The stage features 470 metres of elevation gain.

After a flat start along the lake, the Côte de Larringes (9.6 km at 4.2%) begins at kilometre 3, the only categorised climb of the stage. At kilometre 4.8 lies the first intermediate time check (L'X), at kilometre 9.7 the second (top of the Côte de Larringes). A descent then follows towards Thonon-les-Bains.

From kilometre 18, the road runs flat along the shores of Lake Geneva. At kilometre 18.1 lies the third intermediate time check (Thonon-Bords de Dranse). The finish is in Thonon-les-Bains.

Final kilometres

After the descent of the Côte de Larringes, over 8 kilometres of flat road lead to the finish. The final kilometres run along the shores of Lake Geneva. The finish in Thonon-les-Bains is completely flat.

Recent editions

Recent individual time trials in the Tour de France:

2025 – Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), stage 5 Caen (33 km, flat). Tadej Pogačar second (+0:16), Edoardo Affini third (+0:33).

2024 – Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), stage 7 Nuits-Saint-Georges – Gevrey-Chambertin (25.3 km).

2023 – Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), stage 16 Passy – Combloux (22.4 km, with climbing). Tadej Pogačar second (+1:38), Wout van Aert third.

Thonon-les-Bains hosts a Tour stage for the tenth time.

Scenarios

The 470 metres of elevation gain define the character of this time trial. The Côte de Larringes (9.6 km at 4.2%) is the decisive sector: 9.6 kilometres long, too long to ride on pure speed alone. Time trial specialists such as Filippo Ganna and Joshua Tarling (both Netcompany INEOS) are in a class of their own on flat terrain, but lose ground on this climb to GC riders with strong climbing ability. The flat final section of over 8 kilometres offers them partial recovery.

In the third week of a Grand Tour, GC riders tend to outperform expectations in this type of time trial compared to their flat time trial results. The elevation gain levels out the specific speed advantages of pure time trialists.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) is strong on both sections of this course. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is competitive in time trials with climbing as well and has best chances after the Aerobullet from Schepdael. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) are candidates for a top-result.

Local

Thonon-les-Bains is a city of over 36,000 inhabitants in the Haute-Savoie department, on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, close to the Swiss border. The city hosts a Tour stage for the tenth time. It is the first time Thonon-les-Bains serves as a finish town for an individual time trial in the Tour de France.