Florian Lipowitz has impressively honed his form and confidence for the Tour de France, remarkably doing so in Slovenia.
In a manner reminiscent of Tadej Pogacar, Florian Lipowitz attacked and simply dropped his competition on the climbs. Much like the four-time Tour champion and reigning world champion from Slovenia, Germany’s top professional cyclist secured an overall victory in Pogacar’s homeland with two wins on the toughest stages – sending a clear message to his rivals less than two weeks before the start of the Tour de France.
‘I’m extremely happy. It has taken two years,’ Lipowitz stated after his victory on Saturday, which earned him the overall lead. He didn’t have to wait 24 hours for another win. On Sunday, the rider from Ulm didn’t just defend his lead; he attacked again on the final climb. No one could keep up with the 25-year-old, and even on the final flat stretch, a larger chasing group couldn’t catch him.
Third Overall Tour Victory for Florian Lipowitz
These were scenes that brought back memories of typical Pogacar victories – though they do come with a caveat: apart from Lipowitz, the stars of the cycling scene were absent from the 32nd Tour of Slovenia, which is not part of the World Tour.
Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe was clearly the strongest team; all jerseys, except for the white one for the best young rider, went to the team from Raubling. Lipowitz also won the mountains classification in addition to the overall title, celebrating his fourth and fifth career stage wins along the way.
The success in Pogacar’s home country marked his third overall tour victory, following the Czech Tour in 2023 and the Sibiu Tour in 2024. Lipowitz is still awaiting a World Tour-level triumph. However, this is secondary for the introverted German. He wants to ‘simply prepare well and be able to say after the Tour that I gave my best,’ Lipowitz recently stated in an interview with SID.
Superstar Remco Evenepoel is the Number One in Lipowitz’s Team
The rider from Ulm prefers to avoid the spotlight. This was his recipe for success last year as well, when he emerged from the slipstream of the highly decorated but aging Primoz Roglic, securing Germany’s first Tour de France podium in 19 years.
This time too, others will be in the spotlight. First and foremost Pogacar, who skipped his home tour and used the concurrently held Tour de Suisse as a tough test. After numerous super-dominant performances – not just this spring – it seems impossible to bypass the Slovenian in the Tour de France.
Internationally, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard also has a stronger profile than Lipowitz, especially after his dominant Giro victory – in Pogacar’s absence – the winner of the 2022 and 2023 Tours is considered the main challenger. Also in focus: Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old wunderkind, who must contend not only with the immense strain of his Tour debut but also with the overwhelming yearning of the Grande Nation for the first French victory since 1985.
And at least in the initial days of the Tour, the attention within the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team is likely to be on someone else: double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, a highly paid new recruit, ambitious to the core, but less strong in the high mountains than Lipowitz, is already eyeing the yellow jersey. After all, the Tour begins with a team time trial on relatively flat terrain. Lipowitz’s days will come later. And for them, he appears to be ready.