Thijs Zonneveld bursts out laughing at Evenepoel-Lipowitz reconciliation video: ‘I would never understand this’

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe briefly became one of the biggest talking points at the Tour de France. Remco Evenepoel was angry with teammate Florian Lipowitz and decided to express his frustration publicly. The apparent dispute was quickly played down, although the team subsequently released a rather remarkable reconciliation video. Thijs Zonneveld could not stop laughing when he saw it.

Stage 6 provided the first genuine mountain test of this Tour de France. Tadej Pogačar dominated, Jonas Vingegaard finished second and a group containing Evenepoel and Lipowitz came together behind them. The Belgian wanted his teammate to provide a lead-out for the sprint but did not receive one. That left Evenepoel angry, although the supposed dispute was soon played down by Ralph Denk, among others.

That was not the end of the story. Before Friday’s stage, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe released a short video featuring Evenepoel and Lipowitz sitting beside one another on the team bus. The pair were interviewed by a member of the team’s own staff. “I think we can be happy with yesterday,” Lipowitz began. “Luckily, today we have an easier day. I think everyone is looking forward to it.”

“I finished fourth and Lipo sixth, so that’s pretty good,” Evenepoel responded. “There were still two riders ahead of us, but we finished with all the other podium contenders. It was a good day for us. The first mountain stage is always special, but we handled it well.”

When the interviewer mentioned that people apparently thought the two riders might be fighting, the atmosphere became noticeably more uncomfortable. “No, all good. You speak and you forget,” Evenepoel said. The video ended with both riders silently smiling at the camera.

Zonneveld also saw the footage and began discussing it on the In De Waaier podcast while laughing loudly. “Did you see that Red Bull video on the team bus? Lipowitz and Evenepoel are sitting in their seats — Remco in front, of course, and Lipowitz behind him — and they are being interviewed by the press officer, who stands there looking furious in the mixed zone every day because he feels he has absolutely no control over the situation... He must have read the interviews...”

The Dutch journalist then delivered his verdict. “That interview is so cringe. My toes are curled so tightly that I won’t be able to get them back into my shoes today,” Zonneveld laughed. “Those two guys are sitting there getting changed ahead of yesterday’s sprint stage. They are then supposedly being interviewed casually, and they still don’t know what they are meant to say. Something like: the first mountain stage is over, we are in a pretty decent position, two guys were faster — whatever.”

The conversation then took its striking turn. “Suddenly, he says: ‘As you can see, they aren’t fighting each other in here,’” Zonneveld continued, laughing out loud. “As though we think they are about to start throwing punches. Don’t. Do. This. Actually, wait — do it. This is brilliant,” the Dutch analyst said, clearly enjoying the footage.

However, Zonneveld also wondered how such a video came to be produced. “I do wonder how that works with those press people. Some of them understand it very well and act as a kind of intermediary between the riders and journalists. As a journalist, I would never understand something like this: putting them beside each other like that and making it so awkward.”

“And then making them do a little interview... man, oh man,” the Dutchman continued. “This only adds more fuel to the fire. When you start making videos like this, it really looks as though you have something to hide. I don’t understand it. You have so much money and such a huge company, with Red Bull and BORA behind it, and then you do this... You can see that Remco has plenty of thoughts about it himself.”