500th stage victory for Belgium: Evenepoel wins on the Plateau de Solaison ahead of Pogacar

Stage 15, from Champagnole to the Plateau de Solaison, ended with a historic triumph for Belgian cycling. This victory over Pogacar marks the Belgian’s third stage win in the Tour. Previously, Evenepoel had won only time trials: in Gevrey-Chambertin in 2024 and in Caen in 2025.

The 26-year-old prevailed in the sprint against Tadej Pogacar, who tackled the final climb at an average speed of 21.2 km/h. Jonas Vingegaard was forced to abandon the race 24 kilometres from the finish following a crash, marking the first time he has withdrawn from a Grand Tour early. Quinn Simmons, who spent 92 kilometres in the breakaway group, was awarded the prize for the most combative rider.

Belgium’s milestone

With Evenepoel’s success and Tim Merlier’s three stage wins this year, Belgium has reached the milestone of 500 stage wins in the history of the Tour. Only France ranks ahead of the ‘flat country’ in this statistic. Cyrille Van Hauwaert claimed Belgium’s first victory in Roubaix in 1909. Among the 166 Belgian stage winners, Eddy Merckx tops the list with 34 victories. Freddy Maertens follows with 15 wins, and Philippe Thys with 13.

First mountain stage victory since 2021

Evenepoel has ended a five-year drought for Belgium in mountain stages. The last victory on this terrain came courtesy of Wout van Aert in 2021 in Malaucène, following the double ascent of Mont Ventoux. Three stages earlier, Dylan Teuns won in Le Grand-Bornand at the foot of the Col de la Colombière. Teuns was also the last Belgian to win a mountain-top finish: in 2019, the puncheur-climber beat Giulio Ciccone on the steep slopes of La Super Planche des Belles Filles.

Evenepoel with 75 professional victories

Evenepoel, 26, has now claimed his 75th professional victory since 2019. The former world champion has thus drawn level with his compatriot Tim Merlier, who had taken the lead during this Tour with three mass sprint victories.

Pogacar matches Hinault’s record

The Slovenian has now stood on the podium in a Tour stage for the 46th time, equalling Bernard Hinault’s record. The five-time Tour winner made his last podium appearance in 1986, when he won the time trial in Saint-Étienne. Both riders are tied for sixth place in this ranking, just one podium finish behind Peter Sagan. Eddy Merckx remains the record holder with 63 podium finishes.

Pogacar tackled the final climb to the Plateau de Solaison at an average speed of 21.2 km/h. That evening, the Slovenian was wearing both the Yellow Jersey and the King of the Mountains jersey, bringing his total to 179 and 180 leader’s jerseys in his Tour career. In just 141 stages ridden, he has secured 74 White Jerseys as the best young rider (four overall victories), 65 Yellow Jerseys (four overall victories), 3 Green Jerseys and 37 King of the Mountains jerseys (three overall victories). He won his first White Jersey at the end of the fourth stage of the 2020 edition.

Vingegaard withdraws for the first time

Jonas Vingegaard has withdrawn 24 kilometres from the finish following a crash at a roundabout. The two-time Tour winner (2022 and 2023) is leaving the Grande Boucle early for the first time in six appearances. This marks the first time the Dane has withdrawn from a Grand Tour, having previously completed three Vueltas and one Giro.

In the last twelve editions of the Tour, only five other riders have had to withdraw whilst in the top three of the general classification. In 2015, this included Tom Dumoulin (3rd, Stage 3), Tony Martin (1st, Stage 7) and Tejay Van Garderen (3rd, Stage 17). In 2017, Geraint Thomas (2nd, Stage 9) withdrew, and in 2025, Remco Evenepoel (3rd, Stage 14) did the same. Since 2021, Vingegaard has finished on one of the top two podium places every year, always with Tadej Pogacar either ahead of or behind him. The 2025 Tour will therefore see a new duo at the top.

Simmons’ most combative rider

Quinn Simmons has been awarded the prize for the most combative rider after spending 92 kilometres at the front of the race and battling on the climbs of the Plateau de Solaison as the last survivor of the breakaway group. The Lidl-Trek rider is the first American to win this award since Neilson Powless (Stage 2) and Matteo Jorgenson (Stage 9) in 2023. To date, no American has ever been named ‘Super-Combatif’ at the end of the Tour de France.

Stage 15 in figures:

• Winner: Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
• Runner-up: Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)
• Average speed on the final climb: 21.2 km/h
• Top speed: over 40 km/h
• Rider who withdrew: Jonas Vingegaard (24 km from the finish)
• Most tenacious rider: Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek, 92 km in a breakaway group)
• Special feature: Belgium’s 500th stage victory in the history of the Tour