SerpApi.Org
The mood at the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team bus at the Tour de France on Tuesday evening was a very mixed one indeed, with some excellent news regarding one of their co-leaders jarring sharply against the regrets of losing the other.
For all Remco Evenepoel's triumph was widely predicted, that time-honoured cliché about nothing being certain until the finish line is crossed held as true as ever for the Belgian star. It was equally true for Florian Lipowitz, well inside the top five on all the provisional checkpoints, only to crash in the final part of the 26.1km ITT.
Overall, Evenepoel's result amply consolidates his second place behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) overall, and his victory was all the sweeter in that it came on a very similar course to the one in Nice in 2024 where he had last lost to the Slovenian in a Tour time trial.
But to lose Lipowitz, running fifth overall and potentially a podium finisher in the last week given how strongly he'd performed last year en route to third in Paris, represented a major setback. Any global evaluation of the stage, then, was bound to be tricky.
"I was in the car with Remco," Head Sports Director Patxi Vila told journalists, "but we heard over the radio that he [Lipowitz] had crashed at km 19.8. He's on his way to the hospital, it doesn't look like it's really serious, but he's out of the race."
Vila immediately warned Evenepoel, who had started several minutes later than Lipowitz given his better place overall, to take extra care on the same right-hand corner where the German had fallen, and as he said later, the same corner also proved a difficult one for Pogačar.
"We just had to focus on Remco and make sure he was OK," Vila added.
What had been one of the few two-headed GC challenges in the 2026 Tour - the other being Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose in Lidl-Trek - has now shrunk to just a single effort, it was pointed out, which will inevitably force some major changes in Red Bull's overall strategy. At the same time, with memories of Jonas Vingegaard's crash out on stage 15 still reverberating through the peloton, it was impossible to avoid remembering what had happened just two days earlier to another major overall contender.
"First we're one man down, so we have to build our strategy with one less man," Vila said. "And one of our two leaders, so it's a big loss. It's still very early but it's not ideal.
"For Lipo, I hope it's nothing too serious and he'll be back soon."
Having one rider win and another crash out made for what Vila readily agreed was a "bizarre situation, one where it's hard to think about the victory. I just hope he's OK".
Yet at the same time, Vila was logically delighted with Evenepoel's knock-out victory, his second for the team in three days.
"It was spectacular," he said, "I felt really lucky, privileged to be just 10 metres behind him in the team car, watching how he raced. It was a very special experience."
Nor was it just about the day itself, Vila said. There had been months and months of preparation both for the victory on the Solaison and again on the shores of Lake Leman.
"We've helped him get there with all the material and advice and so on, but finally it came down to him to do all the hard work and stay so dedicated to those goals.
"Seeing where he could improve on the technical side without losing anything in terms of his strength was key. But I think his approach in terms of his mentality, more than anything else, enabled him to make the biggest difference."
As for where Evenepoel can go from here in the third week of the Tour, Vila argued that "after what we saw on Solaison, it shows that we're getting stronger and stronger - not just him, the whole team, and that was what we planned for the last part of the race".
However, he all but burst out laughing when asked if there was any chance of Evenepoel taking on Pogačar, saying "Come on, let's get serious."
But regarding the third place for the podium, he predicted a "good fight between Paul [Seixas] and Isaac [Del Toro]. Isaac was maybe better in the first week, but Paul has been getting better. So right now, it's very even."
The world’s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France. From Barcelona through to Paris, our experienced team will bring you breaking news, expert insight, and in-depth coverage from every stage as the battle for the yellow jersey plays out. Plus, access the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
Like this article? For more stories like this, follow us on MSN by clicking the +Follow button at the top of this page.
