Not Evenepoel but Lipowitz finishes third behind Pogacar and Vingegaard: "That’s when I decided to try something"

On the penultimate climb, it was Lipowitz himself who accelerated briefly and opened up a gap. It didn't make much sense, as there was a 30-kilometer valley between that climb and the final climb. He was, therefore, brought back early, after which the German from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe set off for the final climb in good spirits. There, he again showed that he had strong legs, finishing in an impressive third place behind Pogacar and Vingegaard.

"My legs were really good today, and the team did an amazing job to protect me," concluded the white jersey wearer after the race to the organization. It was hot in France. "Grab some ice and give me water... They did a really good job," the Red Bull talent praised his team.

"When there were the first attacks on the second last climb, I followed and decided to try something," Lipowitz looked back on his attack on the Côte du Mont-Saxonnex. "I paced myself, they caught me but I was feeling confident. I tried to recover as much as I could, and I gave it my best on the last climb."

On that final climb, the pace immediately went through the roof. “I’m super happy with the performance. UAE went all out from the bottom. I paced myself with Remco [Evenepoel] and then I gave it a shot, I opened a gap and I went all the way to the finish. ," said the German, very satisfied.

Two tough mountain stages are on the program for the final weekend. Nevertheless, Lipowitz is definitely looking forward to it. "There are two more really hard days but for sure I will fight for the white jersey. Tomorrow’s climbs are really long and normally that suits me quite well. I expect a super hard start and some racing full gas until the end,” he said.