Florian Lipowitz stuns and joins Pogacar and Vingegaard at Tour de France podium - "It's a dream come true"

The joke on Primoz Roglic being a former ski jumper is one that's been ongoing for many years in the peloton but Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe has now done it again with a former winter sports professional. From biathlete to Tour de France podium finisher in only a few years, Florian Lipowitz is perhaps BORA's new big star in the making.

In his youth years the German was a talented biathlete but much like Remco Evenepoel, got into cycling after an injury. It was discovered that he had a massive talent for the sport and in 2020 turned pro in Austria with the Tirol team, where his potential attracted the attention of BORA who signed him as a pro in 2023. It was one of the single best investments the team could've hoped for, as in 2024 he broke through at the Tour de Romandie where he almost won the queen stage.

Later in the summer he won the Sibiu Tour and then rode a perfect Vuelta a España where he helped Primoz Roglic to overall victory and at the same time proved himself as a Grand Tour contender with a seventh place in the final GC, coming close to the white jersey. In 2025 the 24-year old cemented himself as one of the best stage-racers in the peloton, finishing second at Paris-Nice; fourth at Itzulia Basque Country and then joining Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the podium of the Criterium du Dauphiné.

All the signs had been given to lead the team at the Tour de France, but Primoz Roglic's presence made it a co-leadership, however one that would work well as the team never had responsibility to work. Lipowitz raced under the radar until the Pyrenees where he truly began to climb up the GC, going up to fourth in the stage to Hautacam and climbing onto the podium after Remco Evenepoel's withdrawal.

That podium was rarely at doubt, seeing how strongly and consistently Lipowitz rode all the way to Paris. "It's a dream come true to reach the podium of the Tour de France. I've been thinking about it for several years, but I didn't think it would happen so soon," he admits. After a bold move on stage 18 where he cracked his podium and white jersey were under threat from Oscar Onley, but the following day the German climber put his foot down and made the difference again.

Even in Paris he attacked entering the final circuit, ending his race on a high note. He climbed the podium on several occasions after a close-to-perfect Tour. "With the weather today, it wasn't necessarily very pleasant, but I did my best and I'm happy with the result. I've learned a lot; it's only my second Grand Tour. I've had ups and downs, but I've always believed in myself. When I started cycling, I didn't even know if I'd ever ride the Tour de France, and now I'm on the podium!"

"We'll see what happens in the coming years. I hope I can stay at this level. After the Dauphiné, I knew I had good legs, but three weeks of racing is something very different. I can be proud of myself, but also of the whole team. We worked very well together and fought hard until the end. It's very special," Lipowitz concluded.