For the second time in 24 hours, Lemko Evenpoel crossed the finish line in third place on the Pyrenees stage of the Tour de France. Once again, the top two GC contenders, Tadej Pogachar and Jonas Vingegaard, pulled away from him, but once again, Evenpoel was not in trouble until the summit finish. And with each pedal stroke, the podium position was assured in the overall standings as well.

Evenpoel, who was 3.5 minutes ahead of fourth-placed Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) on stage 15, was now 5 minutes ahead. Mikel Landa, an important support for Lemko, also placed fourth on this stage, moving him into the top five on GC.

"If Jonas [Vingegård] slowed down, I was going to come back," Evenpoel told Sporza while waiting to receive his white jersey for the Best Young Rider award, which he holds by more than six minutes over Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Rodriguez). He said.

"But then I decided to ride at my own pace. The time gap opened up when Taddej attacked," he said, with Evenepoel finishing 2:51 behind Pogachar and 1:43 behind Vingegaard.

Evenepoel remained upbeat, but cautious, about his chances of staying on the provisional Tour de France podium.

"I think I did well. Two third places in the Pyrenees is certainly not a bad result."

"Right now, Lemko is only beaten by two former Tour de France winners in their first Tour appearance.

"Of course, there is still a week to go, but if he stays healthy, I think a podium finish is close.