Lance Armstrong weighs into the Evenepoel vs Lipowitz Tour de France debate: 'The road decided'

If there’s one man who knows a thing or two about winning a time trial (and winning a yellow jersey), it’s Sir Bradley Wiggins. The 2012 Tour de France winner and Olympic time trial champion (same year), is one of the greatest British testers of all time. So when he thinks something is off about Tadej Pogacar's result, it's worth paying attention.

Firstly, Evenepoel. “In my opinion, the best GC ride was Remco,” said George Hincapie on The Move podcast. “You saw he started off the TTT. He was the only GC guy that started off the TTT. Took a long pull after the first corner, he's looking back already. He was composed from the start of that team time trial."

Speaking about Red Bull's team time trial tactics, Hincapie noticed the extra work Evenepoel took on. “And then he slotted into fourth wheel. He only let three guys pass him, so they planned that as well. But he did not miss one pull, the whole TTT,” said Hincapie, clearly impressed. Something that cannot be said about Jonas Vingegaard after stage 1.

Hincapie also waded into the Evenepoel vs Lipowitz debate, something that is starting to get more traction: ‘He won the battle on the road with his own teammate, Lipowitz, rode him off the wheel. It's a big statement in my opinion,” the Modern Adventure Pro Cycling owner concluded.

‘Remco vs Lipo is fast becoming a talking point at the 2026 Tour de France. Never one to shy away from controversy, Lance Armstrong of course had something to add. “We talked about it yesterday. What the team direction said: ‘We're just going to let the road decide’. Whether or not that was just lip service, we don't know. But the road decided and so he's going to take a lot from that.”

Lance Armstrong was also impressed by the size of Evenepoel’s chain ring. “Fun fact,” gushed Armstrong. “Remco today, for you gear nerds at home, had a 68 tooth front chain ring.”

“That's crazy. That's ridiculous,” agreed Hincapie. “Be careful in the corners,” joked Armstrong.

Back to Wiggins, who remained pretty quiet throughout Armstrong and Hincapie’s Remco love-fest. But it turns out that Wiggins had said before the show that he thought Pogacar had missed out on the stage win and yellow jersey, on purpose.

“Bradley, you said it,” begins Armstrong, speaking for the former Tour de France winner. “With Pogacar losing just the little amount of time that he did, you said this sets him up perfectly. Because there is so much stress and pressure that comes with the yellow jersey.” Wiggins nods and tries to squeeze in a word, but Armstrong is on a roll. “I mean he didn't really lose any time. He's right there…” Wiggins is still nodding.

But then Hincapie cuts them both off with maybe the non team leader’s perspective.

“I mean you know how it is. The first days of the Tour you get that yellow jersey. Now you got that high, that motivation, that confidence in your team. Vingegaard hasn't worn the yellow jersey in several years. He's in the yellow jersey once again. I feel like that's just going to elevate him even more.

Tune in tomorrow to see if Sir Bradley Wiggins can get a word in edgeways.