“Against a performance like that... you can’t do much” – Florian Lipowitz turns focus to Tour de France podium fight after Pogacar pulverises rivals on Tourmalet
CyclingThursday, 09 July 2026 at 18:11
Florian Lipowitz admitted there was little anyone could do against Tadej Pogacar’s brutal Stage 6 performance at the 2026 Tour de France, with Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe now turning towards the fight for third overall.
Pogacar blew the race apart on the Col du Tourmalet before riding alone to victory in Gavarnie-Gedre, taking yellow and moving 2:42 clear of Jonas Vingegaard. Lipowitz finished the day seventh overall, 4:00 down on Pogacar, with teammate Remco Evenepoel fourth at 3:30 and only 33 seconds off Isaac del Toro’s provisional podium place.
“We have to ride for third place”
Lipowitz was briefly ahead of Evenepoel on the road after the Tourmalet, having gone over the summit in the group with Del Toro and Paul Seixas. With his teammate chasing behind, the German made clear he was not going to drive the move against Red Bull’s own interests.
“Of course I’m not going to ride on the front when I have Remco in a group behind me,” Lipowitz said of the tactical situation. “That group then came back. I would say there was a bit of cooperation, but nobody really wanted to ride super hard, did they? In the end, we didn’t quite manage to bring Jonas back, but I think the team performance today was top.”
Evenepoel eventually dragged the chase group back together on the descent, with Lipowitz, Del Toro, Seixas, Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose, Sepp Kuss and Lenny Martinez all involved behind Pogacar and Vingegaard.
The gap to Vingegaard came down on the final climb, but the Dane held second place on the stage and now sits second overall, 2:42 behind Pogacar. Lipowitz was clear about where Red Bull’s battle now sits.
“Against a performance like that, I don’t think you can do much,” he said of Pogacar. “Jonas was also super strong today, so yes, we just have to take it day by day now. I think we now have to ride for third place.”
Red Bull remain deep in podium battle
Del Toro sits third overall at 3:27, with Evenepoel fourth at 3:30, Ayuso fifth at 3:34, Seixas sixth at 3:55 and Lipowitz seventh at 4:00. After Pogacar’s Tourmalet attack split the GC open, the fight directly behind Pogacar and Vingegaard is already tightly packed.
For Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe, that means two riders remain firmly involved. Evenepoel is still the team’s highest-placed rider, but Lipowitz again stayed deep into the mountains against the best young GC riders in the race. “But I think that was actually already clear to us beforehand,” Lipowitz said of the fight for third. “The fight for third place is going to be super hard.”
Vingegaard remains between that group and Pogacar, and Lipowitz did not suggest the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader had dropped back into the same bracket as the riders behind him. “We’ll see how Vingegaard evolves,” he said. “I think he is still the second strongest here in the peloton, and yes, behind that it’s going to be very exciting.”
Pogacar’s Stage 6 attack has left the yellow jersey battle tilted heavily towards UAE Team Emirates – XRG, but Red Bull still ended the first high-mountain day with Evenepoel and Lipowitz both inside the top seven. Del Toro, Evenepoel, Ayuso, Seixas, Lipowitz and Martinez are now separated by just 54 seconds in the fight behind Pogacar and Vingegaard.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Did you watch the stage?? Rightly angry for lipo closing gaps on his own teammate and then not being able to help at allbruins3009-07-2026
- Does Evenepoel need to see a therapist? Daily excuses and blame games don't help his career.Ride197409-07-2026
- After day one cyclinguptodate basically implied the TDF was already over and won by Vini by saying "Pogi is IMMEDIATELY on the back foot".Ride197409-07-2026
- Vin came over the line looking cooked only to be met by Pog who had came in minutes before looking fresh as a daisy walking back to the finish line. Pog extended his hand and Vin's look said it all...... he could hardly stay upright on the bike but shook it. Nice guy that he is, I thought myself that it was a bit insensitive of Pog.Cyclingsbestfan09-07-2026
- Remco and Florian are still fighting each other to decide who controls their team. It’s going to get more ugly 😬
PogiFan2Day09-07-2026 - Yep. It couldn't be more predictable at this point. I'm on a remote work site, and was doing what I could to try to see a little live coverage every day, but now I'll just focus on my work and check the evening highlights instead.
santiagobenites09-07-2026 - Hey Cavandish, I`m coming for you. 🚵♂️
Senna196009-07-2026 - Kamon Jonas did not workabstractengineer09-07-2026
- Yesterday I described how today's stage will go. Full control of UAE and no one from Visma, RedBull, Lidl and Decathlon on a breakaway. Anyone who thinks Pogi won't attack the Tourmalet hasn't been watching cycling for the last 3 years. Pogi-Baby Hulk is dressed in full white. Good luck to the rest of the peloton. Explanation: Baby Hulk is an extremely powerful Baby Hulk, being the 2nd son of the Savage Hulk-Bruce Banner. His real name is Tadej Pogačar Banner.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales09-07-2026
- Remco is a better descender than he was 2 years ago. He lost time on descend in 2024 Tour. Florian and Remco are not working as a team. Florian pulled very little on the last climb. Remco gave Paul a pat presumably for thanking him for taking turns. Red bull's management is going to have a pleasant time tonight.
KerisVroom09-07-2026
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