"I lacked the legs" - Florian Lipowitz not happy with climbing legs as another Tour de France general classification showdown looms
CyclingSunday, 19 July 2026 at 10:35
Florian Lipowitz may have moved up one position in the Tour de France general classification standings, climbing to 6th place, but the German rider is by no means happy with his performance on Saturday's stage 14. The Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe rider lies 5:44 behind Tadej Pogacar after another stage win and solo attack underlined his dominance in the yellow jersey fight.
As the best of the rest finished behind, Lipowitz found himself shipping time.With an intriguing podium battle and team dynamics with Remco Evenepoel unfolding, Lipowitz and Evenepoel shipped 12 seconds to Jonas Vingegaard and Paul Seixas in the battle for the places.
Seventh place on the stage, the 2025 podium finisher is still waiting to find his best legs as the race's long climbs hit hard. However, with racing taking place around the Alsace region and close to Germany this weekend, Lipowitz was delighted to see huge swathes of German support on the route.
"It was a super tough day right from the start. I want to thank all the German fans for coming; I had goosebumps on the bike," Lipowitz told reporters after the stage.
Lipowitz noted a team performance as Evenepoel's late resurgence in the climb meant the time trial world champion could assist in reeling in Isaac del Toro as well as Seixas and Vingegaard in the final kilometers.
Lipowitz and Evenepoel issues
The Red Bull leaders had issues after stage 6 and the Col du Tourmalet as Evenepoel criticised him after the stage. However, the pair seemingly put their differences aside in the following days.
"I lacked the legs a bit today and would have liked more," he said. "We can be happy with the team performance and ultimately didn't lose much time. We will keep fighting."
Stage 15 finishes at Plateau de Solaison, a brutal finish of 11.3 kilometers at 9.1 percent average gradient. In what is to be the hardest finish of La Grand Boucle so far, there's set to be more GC gaps by Sunday evening and the second rest day.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The tour organizers screw up again. It was a fast part of the course, a sudden turn. No warning. Only the first few riders would have been able to know it was coming . At this point I believe they want crashes to happencaptmike20-07-2026
- Shhhh, let people have fun 😉 You have fun too
KerisVroom20-07-2026 - I think, like with most other institutions, you’ll find the total costs outweigh the fine. Apart from US lawsuits, corrupt inofficial authorities and maybe Swiss speeding fines to the very rich, it’s usually the general population or if there is a victim, them, that pays the real price, the punishment is mostly arbitrary and the whole implementation often costs more than the fine. This will be especially true if the judge is Swiss with a Swiss salary, swiss paperwork to write up and Swiss rights to contest to have to deal with. It’s actually a no-brainier, 2-3 500 fines a day doesn’t even cover the hours.Mistermaumau20-07-2026
- Yeah, but we’re definitely not all the same there.Mistermaumau20-07-2026
- And why would good reasons be made public so easily or before findings lead to conclusions? People would go apeshyt if controllers started to release statements why they are turning up at 2am. With their knowledge of past practices, it is hardly unexpected this happens from time to time and sorry, it’s been a real long time since it happened, it’s also been a REAL long time since anyone of interest was caught, that is increasing pressure to be seen to be actually checking. Typical doping checks have been so integrated into the routines that people have probably forgotten they exist, new spectators might not even realise they have them.Mistermaumau20-07-2026
- It’s not that simple. This was part of the whole dilemma of deciding to do the Tour or not. Once you’ve accepted you’ve committed to do media work and you have to be very careful about how, when and to who you decide to opt out. The media makes you but can also break you and it’s pretty risky to set your own rules before you’re established enough to negotiate with many of them. Also, in this day and age you’re also kind of obliged to go in order to control the narrative. If you don’t show up you’re basically giving everyone a blank check to write whatever they feel like and that can increase external pressure even more than doing post-race com work. Best thing is to prepare riders on how to deal with it and cope. Someone who can’t has a handicap to reach the top.Mistermaumau20-07-2026
- It would be interesting to add up the total value of the fines after the tour is finished. I think the amount the UCI make from fines would be surprisingCyclingsbestfan20-07-2026
- I don't think it makes a difference on Seixas being a French rider, it makes a difference for the test-times tho if anyone could've been tested..
leedorney20-07-2026 - With only a few hours sleep I would be as a zombie on the bike and the probability to hit the deck hard would be massive.JoostMehrtens20-07-2026
- Well I have not heard a solid reason why 2am was necessary, what can be detected at 2am what can not be detected at 6am or 11pmJoostMehrtens20-07-2026
Loading
Write a comment