Florian Lipowitz-this is the new German cycling hope

Five kilometers before the finish in the French Pyrenees, the moment had come that many had predicted. The German cyclist Florian Lipowitz hung up his captain Primoz Roglic in the chasing group. The 35 -year -old Slovenian stopped with a steep climb to Hautacam at a height of 1560 meters and fell back.

Whether Lipowitz, 24 years old, received a command of his team Red-Bora-Hansgrohe at the moment or decided on his own to take off the helper role and leave Roglic standing. But everyone saw it: it was a wax release. The leader became the helper. Lipowitz showed that he is the stronger driver. The finish line was the third, just 13 seconds behind the Danes Jonas Vingegaard. His facial features distorted from exhaustion, but with the certainty that he holds with greatest bike races in the world with greats such as Vingegaard or day winner Tadej Pogacar.

Lipowitz climbed fourth in the overall classification. His deficit to the Belgian Remco Evenpoel in third place is only 49 seconds. There is a great probability that the German will pass the two-time Olympic champion and time trial world champion at the next mountain stages. The last German who made it under the first three on the tour of the France was Andreas Klöden in 2006-it was a long time ago.

Lipowitz does not surprise earlier companions. As a offspring of a sporty, highly ambitious family, he was always on the bike as a child and teenager. On vacation he drove with father Marc, mother Evelyn and brother Philipp across the Alps and in the Pyrenees: on seven days they spent 900 kilometers off with 18,000 meters of altitude – at that time Lipowitz was 17 years old.

However, his endurance talent was particularly evident in the trail. Like brother Philipp, Lipowitz was considered the youngster in the biathlon. For the sport, he and his family moved from Laichingen in Swabia to Seefeld in Tyrol in 2015 so that he could go to the sports boarding school there.

But while Lipowitz’s biathlon career culminated one year older in 2021 in winning the junior world championship title, the younger brother often plagued injuries. Sometimes an inflamed growth joint in the knee on sports prevented him, then a cruciate ligament tear ensured that he could only train on the bike. Even then, Lipowitz came to thousands of annual kilometers in the saddle. And he noticed more and more that he had talent. His ambition was awakened.

The more frequent change to the bike was worth it. In cycling marathons, demanding amateur races, Lipowitz kept with the best, much older competitors. The first victories followed-and in 2020 the first professional contract with an Austrian continental team. The fact that he was even driven there-without ever driving a license race-was also due to the results of a performance test, which he completed at cycling and triathlon trainer Dan Lorang and which was above average. The values spoke for a huge potential. Lorang is now the head of the Red Bull team.

Although there were greater victories in his Austrian team for Lipowitz, Red Bull in 2023 took him into the squad. Team boss Ralph Denk and Lipowitz had the first contact as early as 2020. An anecdote for his interview says a lot about the young athlete: Lipowitz ran the 100 kilometers to the team center by bike, Denk remembered in a contribution from the “Sportschau”. When he later asked Lipowitz how he could get back later and whether he was picked up, he replied to also deny the way back on the bike. “It was an impressive encounter for me,” said Denk. “You noticed: he wants.”

Now Lipowitz is finally facing the elite circle of top drivers. “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 an impressed Pogacar after the Hautacam stage. Pogacar will have registered that Lipowitz hardly lost time on him, the day winner and great dominator of the tour from the time of the attack.

Lipowitz means – yet – no danger for Pogacar who runs in its own league this year. Nevertheless, in the end, a picture in Paris could result in a preparatory race on the Tour de France as at the Dauphiné in June. Then Lipowitz (third) s were enthroned next to Pogacar (winner) and Vingegaard (second) on the podium.

For Lipowitz, it will now be important how the team reacts to the shift in power. On the outside, you are relaxed at Red Bull. “We are a team, we have to discuss this in peace. We will then make a plan for the next few days, Lipowitz told ARD. His boss Ralph Denk admitted that Lipowitz was” probably the better “.” In the beginning, they worked well together. The goal was the podium, at least that is realistic. ”

The team will probably drive for the 24-year-old when Roglic fits. So far, no divine or egomaniac trains are known of the Slovenen. Perhaps a wax release is very peaceful here.