And suddenly, Roglic was back! Red Bull–BORA–Hansgrohe still believes in podium: "Roglic is relaxed"

Sports director Rolf Aldag saw after the finish that the big goal is still within reach. However, a Tour victory is unlikely for Roglic or Lipowitz. “You have to be realistic. Sure, you can dream, but we also know what we’re working with,” the German told Velo. “That’s why we say the podium is a big goal for us. We believe in it. It’s within reach. But riding Pogačar off the wheel? That would be overly optimistic.”

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rode an extremely conservative first week, resulting in some time lost. “We accepted from the beginning that if we lost a few seconds here or there, it wouldn’t decide the podium in Paris,” Aldag told Velo. “We’re rating mental freshness quite highly, especially after what we learned last year. Back then, we were probably too eager, pushing too hard, too early.”

Lessons have been learned. Roglic is relaxed and performed well in the stage to Puy de Sancy. He finished sixteenth and was increasingly visible at the front. He currently occupies ninth place in the GC, one place behind his teammate Lipowitz. “Primož looks good. He’s stable. And more importantly, the racing hasn’t killed him. We’re still targeting the podium.”

“Some people might think it’s unrealistic, but look at last year, third place in Paris finished more than nine minutes down. Right now we’re, what, three minutes off? We could still lose five minutes and be on the podium.” Tadej Pogacar won last year's Tour de France with a six-minute lead over Jonas Vingegaard and nine minutes over Remco Evenepoel.

The Belgian from Soudal Quick-Step is normally the biggest contender for that third spot on the podium in Paris. He currently has a lead of more than 2 minutes over the Red Bull duo. But Aldag remains optimistic. “This Tour might end up having two races: one for the victory and another for the podium. And who knows, those top two guys still have to make it to Paris. One bad day, whether it’s heat, nutrition, hydration—anything can happen.”

Lipowitz crossed the finish line in eleventh place, three seconds behind Pogacar and Vingegaard. The German showed his skills again after a few less successful days in the short hills. “It was very tough from the start, the pace was very high the whole time,” he said on his team's social media. “I think we finished well. Finally, it's time for the first rest day, and I think we can be satisfied.”