Lipowitz makes Pogačar work for Romandie win: 'I'm getting better with every race'

It was Tadej Pogačar who was once again the best in the Tour de Romandie, but he had to really work for it in stage four. Florian Lipowitz stayed with the Slovenian for a long time. After being dropped, he remained close to the yellow jersey wearer all the way to the finish, keeping the gap in the classification small. The Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe German has emerged as Pogačar's biggest challenger in Switzerland.

Earlier in the week, Pogačar chose not to drop Lipowitz and his two other rivals — but that turned out to be a tactical decision. This time he did everything he could to shed them, and the German proved far tougher than expected. Only in the final kilometre before the summit did he have to let the world champion go, but in the valley he kept the gap contained. He crossed the line just 14 seconds after the winner.

Lipowitz is satisfied. "I felt good all day, and the plan was to follow Pogi for as long as possible," he explains in the flash interview. "But in the final kilometre on the climb I was on my limit — I couldn't go any deeper. I tried to hold my own pace, but I'm really happy with today. Also with how the team raced today. Chapeau. I'm really happy."

It ultimately took Pogačar two accelerations to rid himself of his closest rival. "I think he knows I'm not the fastest man, I like a steady pace. He tried to drop me in the final kilometre, and that worked well for him. But as I said, I'm really happy with today. One more day to go." That is a hard mountain stage, and the gap to Pogačar is 'just' 35 seconds.

Lipowitz is having another excellent year so far, with a third place at the Tour of Catalonia and a second place at the Tour of the Basque Country. Add a likely second place at Romandie to that, and the wait goes on for that one outright victory. The spring results matter less to the climber, however, because he has one big goal in mind.