Strong spring gives Lipowitz confidence ahead of sharing Tour de France leadership with Evenepoel

Florian Lipowitz broke through definitively last year with a podium finish in the Tour de France. After that, the German went through a difficult period, but since the Tour of Catalonia the general classification rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe appears to be back at full strength. He spoke to Eurosport Germany about his Tour de France preparation.

Lipowitz finished an impressive second in the Tour de France last year, and also won the white jersey. That confirmed his status as a Grand Tour talent and created plenty of expectations. The months that followed were therefore mentally very tough for the 25-year-old rider.

At the start of this year, Lipowitz still had not reached the level he showed in 2025, but from the Tour of Catalonia onwards things began to improve. The German finished third overall there, then went on to finish second overall in both the Tour de Romandie and the Tour of the Basque Country. He now seems ready for his role as team leader in the Tour.

“The whole spring has given me a lot of confidence. I found things a bit difficult after last year’s Tour de France. It was still a long time until Catalonia, so I was worried in advance. Fortunately, it got better with every race,” the German says. In Romandie, Lipowitz even tried to attack Pogačar a few times.

“That was a great experience and gave me a lot of confidence, but I expect a different Pogačar in the Tour,” he says honestly. For the Tour, the Red Bull rider expects an open fight for the final podium place. “Jonas (Vingegaard, ed.) and Pogačar are two steps ahead of the rest, but a lot can happen. I do expect Paul Seixas to make things difficult for them. He will be a serious opponent for both.”

Lipowitz is trying to stay as calm as possible himself: “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. That is why it is good that we are going to the Tour with shared leadership.”

The German will share that role with Remco Evenepoel. “We can share the pressure and we both benefit from that. I think I have learned a lot over the past few years, which means I can handle pressure better.”

Where he still sees room for improvement is explosiveness. “It is difficult to beat riders like Vingegaard, Pogačar or Seixas with my sprinting power. I hope I can also learn a lot from Remco.” Before the Tour, Lipowitz will only race the Tour of Slovenia, where he will normally share leadership with Giulio Pellizzari.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]