‘No big deal’: Red Bull dismisses Evenepoel–Lipowitz tension as a ‘language barrier’

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe will not necessarily be disappointed with the outcome of Stage 6 of the Tour de France. Remco Evenepoel finished fourth and Florian Lipowitz crossed the line in sixth. Afterwards, however, the Belgian criticised his fellow team leader for not doing enough work. Is the friction between the two riders becoming a genuine problem, or will the situation quickly settle down? Team manager Ralph Denk addressed the issue on the Inside Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe – Tour de France Podcast.

Evenepoel’s day had already got off to a far from ideal start. He stopped for a bathroom break at an unfortunate moment and soon found himself a long way behind the peloton. “When you have to pee, you have to pee. What would you do?” Denk explained. “There was already a high pace in the peloton, and we had four or five riders waiting for him. It did cost him some energy, though. He wanted to do it before the major climbs, which I understand. But it took a considerable effort to bring him back because UAE had already taken control.”

The race then exploded on the Col du Tourmalet. Tadej Pogačar attacked decisively, while Jonas Vingegaard reached the summit in second place. The chasing riders eventually regrouped behind them and finished approximately three minutes behind the stage winner. “First place is going to be very difficult unless Pogačar makes a major mistake or gets sick,” Denk acknowledged. “But behind him, everything is still wide open.”

The biggest gaps were not created on the Tourmalet itself, but on the long, gradual final climb towards Gavarnie-Gèdre. Pogačar added minutes to his advantage over Vingegaard, while the Dane was nearly caught by the group containing Evenepoel and Lipowitz. Vingegaard managed to stay clear because the cooperation within the chasing group was far from ideal. That was particularly frustrating for Evenepoel, who appeared to contribute more than most of the other riders.

“We did more work, especially Remco, who probably did the most,” Denk observed. “Lidl-Trek also had two riders in the group, but it seemed as though they were not doing that much work. “This is cycling at the highest level. There was very little harmony in the group, for whatever reason. We got to within 20 seconds of Vingegaard, and it would easily have been possible to catch him if everyone had cooperated.”

After the finish, Evenepoel criticised Lipowitz for not providing him with a lead-out for the sprint. Denk, however, played down the disagreement between his two general-classification leaders. “There was a little disagreement and a language barrier,” he said. “It happened in the heat of the moment, after more than 180 kilometres in the mountains. It was no big deal.

“I have already seen them talking about it. There is not much going on. They sat together at dinner and were laughing. The issue is being made bigger than it really is. They will continue working together as a duo.”

Evenepoel is currently fourth in the general classification, just three seconds behind third-placed Isaac Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and 48 seconds behind Vingegaard in second. Lipowitz sits seventh overall, approximately half a minute behind his teammate. Despite the incident, Denk insists the leadership situation inside Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe will remain unchanged.

“Nothing will change compared with the situation before the stage,” he said. “We now have two stages during which we can catch our breath a little, provided the wind does not become a factor.” That means plenty remains possible for the German team. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe is not merely targeting third place: it wants to put Vingegaard under pressure in the battle for second.

“I do not necessarily see Jonas as being much better than Florian or someone like Paul Seixas,” Denk said. “That means, assuming nothing unusual happens, seven riders will be fighting for second and third place. “Nothing has been decided yet, and we have two of those seven riders.”