Red Bull fights back with Roglic and Lipowitz, Jayco with O'Connor: can they claw their way back in the Tour classification?

For Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, it’s far from a luxury position in which they find themselves in, but with Lipowitz finishing sixth and Roglic twelfth in the time trial, they moved up to ninth and eighth place in the GC, respectively. Lipowitz made up for his disappointing ride in Stage 4, while Roglic hadn’t really been in rocket mode over any of the first four days.

Speaking to Slovenian media, Roglic reacted calmly to his performance: “I’m satisfied. I honestly have no idea how it went result-wise, but I enjoyed it. The weather was good and there were lots of fans along the route, so it went by quickly. Everything’s okay, even if some guys were faster and others slower. So far I’ve done everything I could each day, and I’ll keep doing that. I’m healthy and still in one piece.”

Read more below the photo.

Speaking to German broadcaster ARD, analyst and former pro Jan Ullrich was surprised by Lipowitz’s strong time trial. The 24-year-old German finished about a minute behind winner Remco Evenepoel, just a day after he had to let go of the favorites’ group in a punchy finale. “I was super impressed. I don’t think Florian realizes how strong he is. I didn’t expect him to finish so far up; he really rode hard in the second half,” Ullrich said.

That bodes well for the mountain stages coming up in weeks two and three. Is Lipowitz a man for the long haul? “I’m more than satisfied because I didn’t exactly start this Tour well,” the young talent said self-critically. “I was doubting myself a bit, so today’s time trial is a bright spot going into the next few days.”

Read more below the photo.

Jayco-AlUla can also hope things will improve after a rough start. Team leader Ben O’Connor crashed on day 1 and got dropped by the favorites on day 4. But with an eleventh place in the time trial, he climbed twelve spots back up into the top twenty. “I felt a lot better than the past few days,” he said afterwards. “I didn’t really enjoy those punchy stages; I wasn’t feeling great with all the stress. It was nice to feel stronger today. I enjoyed that. Hopefully it stays that way.”

The Australian has already finished fourth in the Tour de France before, and last year he spent a long time in the red leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a España, where he ultimately finished second. Both times he gained those positions by going on the attack. Can he fight back that way again now? “There will be days when I get the chance to take back time, but I don’t yet know which ones. With UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma | Lease a Bike, it’s also a battle between them to see who is strongest.”