Red Bull are headed for an uncomfortable decision at the Tour de France: 'Prioritise one position over another'

Co-leadership at the Tour de France is a very risky business, as Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe have been finding out. The American-German team have confirmed that the Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz GC experiment may not last all the way to Paris. After twelve days of the Tour de France, both team leaders are in the top six, but team manager Patxi Vila is preparing for a decision that will have to be made.

The 50-year-old Spaniard is one of the two sports directors for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in this Tour de France and has therefore already had to put out a few fires. There was the team time trial on Day 1, where Evenepoel dropped his co-leader on the climb. The Belgian was also stronger in Stage 2, but Lipowitz finished stronger in Stage 3.

On the sixth climb up the Tourmalet, Evenepoel was furious, as he would have liked Lipowitz to lead him out for a sprint for third place. But he didn’t get that. Lipowitz, in turn, launched an attack that put Evenepoel in trouble during Stage 10 and caused him to fall behind briefly. He managed to catch up, however, and even sprinted to second place.

In short: Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s decision to field two leaders in the Tour de France didn’t come without its challenges. “But we’re doing well,” Vila emphasized in an interview with Marca. “We’re right where we expected to be and are competing for the podium with both riders. Tadej Pogacar no longer surprises us—we expected that, too.”

The big question is whether Evenepoel and Lipowitz will be able to keep pace in the second and third weeks. The second week wraps up in the Vosges, before an individual time trial is scheduled for Stage 16 following the second rest day. This is right up Evenepoel’s alley. But the opposite is true for Lipowitz, who looked stronger on the longer climbs. We’ll see those in the third week in the Alps.

"Of our team leaders, Remco is the one with the most spark; he has the ability to shake things up a bit," said Vila. "It's part of his natural character, and he'll undoubtedly show that at some point. Lipowitz has had a good preseason and is 100 percent ready. I think this is the best version of Florian we’ve seen so far.”

With two team leaders who, on the surface, don’t really have to worry about each other, communication and anticipation are the most important things, according to Vila. Because there may come a moment when one of the two leaders does start to fall behind. “We’re still a team and need to work together. That requires dialogue, a lot of consultation, and creating opportunities.”

And honestly, if the Tour de France ends up being decided in the third week. “At some point, we’ll have to make a decision, though hopefully it won’t come to that,” said Vila, who also knows that Evenepoel and Lipowitz can only continue racing for themselves all the way to Paris if they’re both on track for a podium finish.

If that’s not the case, a difficult conversation lies ahead. Although it seems people want to put it off for as long as possible. “It’s not unusual to prioritise one position over another at a given moment. We’re aware of that. Ideally, we’d prefer not to make a decision, and normally, the riders themselves will determine the order.”