"I really needed a rest yesterday, but now I feel good again" - Florian Lipowitz ready to assist Primoz Roglic and fight for his own GC in La Vuelta's high mountains

With the second week of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana opening with a brutally fast stage 10, a number of those riders high up the general classification attempted to get themselves into a breakaway to improve themselves. One of those teams working hard to control things however, were Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe.

“It was a difficult stage today," assesses Florian Lipowitz in his post-stage interview, having helped team leader Primoz Roglic successfully navigate the day without incident, whilst also keeping the White Jersey of Best Young Rider on his own shoulders.

"I think everyone was… you saw that the rest day did everyone well, so everyone went super fast on the climb at the start," adds the 23-year-old German who continues to impress in just the second Grand Tour of his career. "We just tried to keep the breakaway as small as possible, also with no GC riders in there, and I think we did a pretty good job. In the end, we expected the stage like this, without going all out on the climbs, so we are happy with how the stage went. But the start was super difficult to control, and I think quite hard for everyone."

In terms of his own performance and own goals for the coming days, Lipowitz, who currently sits 6th overall at 5:29 down on the Red Jersey of Ben O'Connor, is growing in confidence. "Today I felt pretty good again," he assesses. "I also didn’t know how the rest day would affect my body. I really needed a rest yesterday, but now I feel good again and I’m looking forward to the next stages.”