Updated July 23, 2026 03:31PM
Could Remco Evenepoel be the beneficiary of an unexpected UAE Emirates-XRG meltdown right at the end of this Tour de France?
The race is poised for two extremely important stages to Alpe d’Huez, with the races on Friday and Saturday tough enough to potentially reshuffle the Tour GC.
Pogačar and the UAE Team appeared to be coasting to a record-equaling fifth Tour de France win but as those stages approach, three of his teammates have been hammered by illness and one by injury.
Brandon McNulty was dropped early and withdrew from Thursday’s stage 18. Tim Wellens almost missed the time cut, and Adam Yates was still experiencing the same sickness he showed on Wednesday.
Florian Vermeersch finished over half an hour back and told Sporza he is suffering with an injury.
Meanwhile Remco Evenepoel is waiting in the wings, the Belgian having taken Sunday’s stage 15 summit finish and then Tuesday’s stage 16 time trial.
Those two results narrowed his deficit to 4:32 and while Pogačar still has a comfortable buffer, his team’s weakness will do him no favors.
“It’s not nice to kick off the coming days like this,” Evenepoel said after stage 18, according to Sporza.
“But it can happen that you get sick; it has happened to me too. Then you just have to endure it.”
Momentum is on his side following his recent victories. He took an unprecedented 10 week break from competition after Liège-Bastogne-Liège and, on the evidence of the past few stages, may be hitting his best-ever form at precisely the right time.
He’s ready to race and he expects things to ramp up.
“I personally think a team like Decathlon will now pull out all the stops to attack Del Toro’s third place,” he said. “Just testing if he’s also suffering from illness.”
If they do, and if Pogačar ends up isolated, things could become intriguing.
‘It’s clear there is illness present’
Speaking after the finish, UAE Emirates-XRG sports manager Matxín Fernández pushed back on suggestions that Tim Wellens was ill.
The Belgian was last on the stage, finishing barely ahead of the time cut.
“He is not sick. He is not sick,” Matxín said, speaking to reports from Wielflits and other outlets.
However Sporza reported that Wellens is indeed ill, suffering from a sore throat. The outlet noted his voice was harsh at the finish and that he was exhausted.
And the rider himself appeared to confirm being unwell.
“In any other race, a person would give up, but you don’t do that in the Tour. I’m glad I made it to the finish,” Wellens said.
“It’s a shame that Brandon [McNulty] was in worse shape than me. He had to give up. Fortunately, Adam [Yates] had less problems than I did. I hope to be able to do the same tomorrow as he does.
“Fortunately, Tadej has nothing and I hope it stays that way. It’s clear that there is illness present in the squad, but it’s super good that Tadej has no problems.”
That appears a complete contradiction to Matxin’s denial.
In addition, Florian Vermeersch finished over half an hour back and told Sporza he is suffering with an injury.
So, that Vermeersch, Wellens and Yates ailing, and McNulty out of the race.
Will Evenepoel try to make the most of these issues?
“We’ll have to see about that,” he said. “I’m not going to take crazy risks and jeopardize my 2nd place.”
He’s looking forward to Alpe d’Huez, but has never actually competed on the legendary slopes. He admits to a little wariness about the crowd.
“I’m looking forward to discovering it, but it can also be a bit intimidating when you see how narrow it sometimes is,” he said.
“Sometimes all that crowd can affect a stage, if you want to respond to an attack, but you can’t move forward because you’re blocked. We’ll see how extreme it gets.”
Seixas shows fair play in his reaction
Remco Evenepoel (left) and Tadej Pogačar are closest tp each other in the battle for yellow (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
It won’t just be Evenepoel who could shake things up. If UAE are still compromised, and even more so if Pogačar or Del Toro themselves fall ill, there are several rivals who would stand to gain.
Evenepoel has that 4:32 deficit to yellow. Del Toro is third, 6:51 back, and is just 20 seconds ahead of Paul Seixas.
Both riders are determined to stand on the podium in Paris: both are also going for the white jersey of best young rider.
Seixas is certain to try something Friday and Saturday if the legs are there. However he said he would prefer circumstances to be different.
“I think these riders on the UAE, some are a bit sick. That is a shame for them,” he told media at the finish on Thursday.
“We will see how it goes and how these guys keep going or not. I hope Del Toro and Pogačar will not be sick, that’s not how we want to do it.
“We are going to see how it goes. It will be really hard on the legs.”
As for Pogačar, he is anticipating a lot of very aggressive racing, something that will be even harder than usual to control if his teammates are compromised.
“Now we know that the breakaways are going bananas from the start every day. In the end also the top ten GC riders are a bit worried about their places,” he said. “This means full gas from start to finish, more or less, but it was quite a calm day for me.
“It sucks to lose Brandon because he was such a valuable rider until now. I think Adam [Yates] is coming back, getting better. He didn’t need to overdo it today and yesterday. Yesterday he really suffered on a bike but today he was already better.
“I think tomorrow is a relatively good stage for Adam to survive and not spend too much energy, and I hope he will be good for Saturday, because Saturday it’s going to be important to have a strong team.”
It is. And, despite what they said about fair play and not wishing illness on the UAE Team, Evenepoel, Seixas and others won’t hold back if there are gains to be made.
