American rider Brandon McNulty was apparently involved in a road rage incident before the time trial stage of the Tour de France.

McNulty, a teammate of overall race leader Tadej Pogačar, was confronted by an angry motorist who overtook him on his way to the start of stage 16, Mauro Gianetti, the CEO of UAE Emirates XRG, told broadcaster Eurosport.

Gianetti said the driver of the car was furious and that he stopped his vehicle after overtaking McNulty, who then collided with the vehicle.

"He was just coming to the start with the bike. One car was a little bit upset behind him; we don't know why, and then he overtook Brandon, and he stopped the car. Unfortunately, of course, Brandon crashed into the car," he said.

"Apparently it's nothing so big and all good, but it was not nice. Yes, it was a car from the public, and we don't know."

Time-trial champ wins back-to-back stages

Time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel was fastest as he won the 16th stage of the Tour de France to shave 28 seconds off Tadej Pogačar's commanding lead.

Evenepoel completed the 26.1-kilometre individual time trial in 32 minutes, 19 seconds, more than a minute faster than Mattias Skjelmose, the previous quickest, before the Belgian rider waited to see Pogačar cross the line with the second-best effort of the day.

It is the third year straight that Evenepoel has won a time trial at the Tour. His parents and family members were present on Belgium's national holiday to see him take back-to-back stage victories after winning the 15th stage on Sunday. Monday was a rest day.

His teammate Florian Lipowitz crashed out, however. The German rider slipped going around a sharp bend toward the finish and slid across the road into the sidewalk kerb. He was unable to continue with what looked like a shoulder injury.

"It's a bittersweet pill to swallow with this victory. I wish him all the best, and I hope he's not too bad," Evenepoel said of his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate. "I will really miss him for the whole week."

Paxti Vila, director sportif of the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team, had mixed feelings after the stage.

"On one side, you're happy because we won, but on the other side, you are kind of sad because Florian had that crash at kilometre 19.8 on that right turn," Vila said. "He's still on the way to the hospital. Let's see when the medical update arrives."

Pogačar survives scare

Pogačar had a wobble going around the same corner where Lipowitz crashed but recovered to continue.

The four-time Tour champion leads second-place Evenepoel by 4 minutes, 32 seconds with five stages remaining.

"Tadej is on his way to win a fifth Tour de France," Evenepoel said of a feat that would move the Slovenian rider level with Belgium's Eddy Merckx, Spain's Miguel Indurain and French riders Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.

"I think it's just amazing that I can be a bit close to him," he said of Pogačar. "It's an honour to race with him … so, for me, it's a big step forward that I can at least be a bit around him, and I try to learn from him."

AP