José De Cauwer says Red Bull acted before Tour as Evenepoel-Lipowitz tension grows

The internal leadership battle at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has already intensified following the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. Remco Evenepoel criticised fellow team leader Florian Lipowitz after the stage over the Col du Tourmalet, an exchange that naturally received plenty of attention in the Flemish media. Sporza commentator José De Cauwer offered his assessment of the situation inside the German team.

Evenepoel said he received no help from Lipowitz during the flatter run-in at the end of stage six, leaving the Belgian visibly frustrated after the finish. “I asked for a lead-out, but I did not get one,” Evenepoel said, directing his criticism towards his teammate. “Yes, I was angry, and rightly so.”

The Olympic champion then referred to the support he had previously provided for Lipowitz at the Tour of Catalonia. “I rode on the front for him for 30 kilometres in Catalonia. I asked him to do one kilometre of work, and that was not possible. That made me angry, and it will have to be properly discussed tonight," Evenepoel told Sporza after the stage.

De Cauwer tried to assess the situation from Lipowitz’s perspective. The German crossed the summit of the Tourmalet ahead of Evenepoel, but the balance between the two riders shifted again later in the stage.

“Lipowitz will be thinking: I reached the top of the Tourmalet first, so I am the stronger rider,” De Cauwer said. “On the descent and on the final climb, Remco was clearly better — or at least showed more ambition. They have not settled the matter yet.”

The Sporza commentator also pointed out that Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had already made decisions before the Tour that could be interpreted as signs of an internal struggle for influence. “They have already intervened,” De Cauwer explained. “Normally, they were going to bring Gianni Vermeersch instead of Nico Denz.”

Vermeersch was considered one of Evenepoel’s preferred support riders and someone who could guide the Belgian through the peloton. Red Bull ultimately selected Denz instead. “There are videos in which we hear Vermeersch saying: ‘I have to make sure I am in good form at the Tour so I can support this guy.’ Then, all of a sudden, they chose Denz, even though Remco would have preferred Vermeersch as his guide in the peloton,” De Cauwer continued. For now, the experienced former team manager does not believe Red Bull’s leadership question has been definitively resolved.

“That battle is not over yet. The solution will not come from Lodewyck either, because he is more closely aligned with Remco,” he concluded. “It all still needs some time to develop, but eventually it should fall into place naturally.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]