Tour de France: “Strong Signal”: Lipowitz shines in the Pyrenees

Florian Lipowitz already explained his impressive appearance on the microphones, when his experienced captain Primoz Roglic was not even at the finish line. At the first high mountain stage in the Pyrenees, the German cycling star at the steep climb up to Hautacam gave a clear answer to the question of who should lead the German Rennstall Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on the 112nd Tour de France-and even raised hopes for a podium in Paris.

In the power demonstration of defending champion Tadej Pogacar, the 24 -year -old Lipowitz celebrated the third day ceremony in front of the eyes of French President Emmanuel Macron and climbed from eighth to fourth overall place – 5:34 minutes behind Pogacar.

Roglic rolled over the finish line on the twelfth stage with a distance of 1:45 minutes to Lipowitz. Has the captain’s question decided?

“We are a team, we have to discuss it in peace now. We will then make a plan for the next few days,” said Lipowitz of the ARD. It makes him happy that he had arrived behind the favorites Pogacar and the Danes Jonas Vingegaard. Already on the Dauphiné tour before the tour, the former biathlete celebrated the third overall behind the two tour dominators of the past few years.

The courageous appearance and the great talent of Lipowitz have not been hidden. “He is very strong and a great driver. He still has room for improvements. I think we will see a lot of him in the next few days and years,” said the Slovenian about his adversary. From the time of his attack, Lipowitz hardly lost time to the day winner – and even approached Vingegaard gradually.

Lipowitz: “I took my chance”

The German was fully satisfied. “I took my chance and attacked again and then full throttle to the destination,” said Lipowitz shortly after his arrival. “After driving the majority from the front, I thought I would try an attack,” he added. At the team bus, he said with a view to the mountain time trial: “Short and super hard. Then we hope that things will go on like this.”

His team boss Ralph Denk praised the young professional he had discovered at the time. “It was a strong signal. We want to keep calm now. He is probably the better one, you saw that today. In the beginning, they worked well together. The goal was the podium, which is at least realistic,” said functionary.

Pogacar dominates the competition

Rad world champion Pogacar had long duped the competition around Vingegaard during his demonstration of power. The Slovenian defied the fall the day before and demonstrated his superiority after one of his explosive attacks. The 26 -year -old conquered the yellow jersey from the Irish Ben Healy – and dismantled the chanceless competition.

“I am totally happy that I could make up time and won this increase,” said Pogacar. He didn’t know how his body reacted to the fall. He only felt his hip a bit. With a distance of 2:10 minutes on Vingegaard, he celebrated his 20th tour stage victory.

In the overall ranking, the three-time tour winner Pogacar is now 3:31 minutes ahead of Vingegaard. The Belgian Remco Evenepoel occupies the third overall rank 4:45 minutes behind the yellow carrier. Double Olympic champion Evenepoel, co-favorite on the podium, fell back to the Col du Soulor on the first climb and lost his second place overall. Now Lipowitz is the largest rival from even Evenepoel.

Film -ready duel three years ago

Almost three years ago, Pogacar and Vingegaard had already delivered a spectacular duel on the ascent to Hautacam. At that time, Vingegaard even waited for Pogacar after a fall. The Dane later shook off the exhausted Slovenia and paved the way for his first tour victory.

Superstar Pogacar fell on Wednesday, but the 26-year-old got away lightly. In the evening, his UAE racing stable announced that the Slovenian had not suffered any concussion or breaks in the unfortunate fall. Bruises and abrasions on the left forearm belonged to the damage balance after the shock moment just under four kilometers before the finish.

The incident could have had bad consequences for the three-time tour champion. At Pogacar, only a bandage on the arm was recognizable at the start. “I’m okay, not too bad. My whole left arm is open, but only turned off skin,” he said.

Deadly misfortune overshadow stage

Pogacar also reacted to the tragic death of the 19-year-old youth cyclist Samuele Privitera on the edge of the stage. The young man fell to a bike race in Italy on Wednesday and later died in the hospital. “It is very sad to lose another young talent,” said Pogacar.

The tour also took part in tragic death. Before the stage, the drivers and the spectators were also asked to applaud for one minute in honor of Privitera. Pogacar dedicated his victory to the late young driver.