Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe sees Roglic and Lipowitz lose more time, and Vlasov gets the blame

Lipowitz and Roglic finished on day 7 in the same group, 21 seconds behind winner Tadej Pogacar. That wasn't the first time the two lost time, as they were also on the wrong side of a split on punchy day 4. According to Denk, CEO of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, the lack of support was very unfortunate. Vlasov finished 41st at 3.40 minutes, and the next two Red Bull riders were Laurence Pithie and Gianni Moscon at 9.54 minutes.

“It was a shame that Primoz and Florian were left without support,” Denk said honestly in the daily Tour podcast Inside Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. “I had hoped that Aleksandr would still be there on this terrain because if Primoz and Florian had a domestique in the final and they could move up a bit from behind, it would have looked different. I think they were both good enough to finish with the Pogacar group.”

Read more below the photo.

However, the lack of support crippled the duo, although they both moved up a place in the GC: Lipowitz from 9th to 8th and Roglic from 10th to 9th. "I haven't been able to talk to Aleksandr yet about why he wasn't there, but it's still a bummer. Perhaps he had a bad day, as other teams still had several teammates in the final while we had none at all. We need to hear from Aleksandr why he wasn't there at the decisive moment," said a stern Denk.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has high expectations for Roglic and Lipowitz, and Vlasov has a crucial role to play as a domestique. With Pithie and Moscon alongside sprinters Jordi Meeus, Danny van Poppel, and Mick van Dijke in the selection, there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders for the mountains that lie ahead in the second and third weeks. “It is what it is; tomorrow, we will continue,” Denk concluded.