"Lipowitz on the podium is good, but the cherry on the cake was missing": Red Bull sports director satisfied despite Evenepoel's crash disrupting team's Volta a Catalunya

Florian Lipowitz and Remco Evenepoel completed their first stage race together at the Volta a Catalunya, and while the week ended with Lipowitz on the podium and Evenepoel fifth, it was a crash during stage 3 that ultimately defined how things unfolded. Team director Klaas Lodewyck, who joined Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe alongside Evenepoel this season, gave his verdict on the week.

Evenepoel came into the Volta a Catalunya as a co-leader alongside Lipowitz, and the question of how the two would work together had been the subject of much speculation beforehand. A crash, however, quickly settled the matter, pushing Evenepoel into a supporting role for his teammate.

Despite that, he was far from passive. By the final stage, however, the Belgian superstar looked entirely back to his old self. Evenepoel unleashed a barrage of attacks on the fast, technical finishing circuits, though none of them stuck. "There were certainly opportunities to ride away, because he tried. But someone was always able to close the gap," Lodewyck told Sporza.

The team director had no complaints about the effort level. "It was a fast and technical course, but we tried everything. The team got the maximum out of it." And while the result was not quite what they had hoped for, Lodewyck was philosophical. "That is racing as it is. We tried and we were involved. It just did not happen, but I can live with that."

Perhaps the most encouraging takeaway from the week was the sight of Evenepoel returning to something closer to his best after the crash. "Remco is starting to recover from the crash and the legs are turning again," Lodewyck noted. "Today he was clearly on the mend again. We can leave with a positive feeling."

As for what comes next, Evenepoel will spend a few days in Belgium before heading to Spain to prepare for the Ardennes classics - a block that suits him well. Lodewyck was also quick to praise how smoothly the new partnership at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe has come together.

"We are both well integrated in the team. Everything runs smoothly and the riders understand each other well in the race. It is still a while until the Tour de France, but the build-up is going well. For both Evenepoel and Lipowitz, it is a good way of working. It is different, but for riders like them who want everything in order, this is an added value."

With the Tour de France still months away, Lodewyck was measured but confident about what this week suggested in terms of the bigger picture. Asked whether Red Bull-Bora can genuinely challenge Jonas Vingegaard, he did not shy away.

"There is definitely something to be done about it. If you are leading in the standings, you can mainly apply your own tactics. But if you have to make up time on someone who is equally good or even better, it becomes complicated racing," he concluded. The build-up, for now, is going well.