Remco Evenepoel to skip key Tour de France warm-up as Florian Lipowitz leads Red Bull race build-up
Cycling
The preparation at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is taking two different directions ahead of the Tour de France, with Remco Evenepoel stepping away from racing while Florian Lipowitz continues his build-up in competition.
Evenepoel will not ride the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, previously the Criterium du Dauphine. Instead, his programme shifts to recovery, reconnaissance and altitude training after a spring that included 25 race days.
“We decided together with Remco to take a break from racing after an intense spring,” said DS Zak Dempster in a team press release. “The goal is for him to arrive in Barcelona completely fresh. After analysing his 25 race days, we see greater benefit in a balanced alternative programme than in adding further race load.”
Evenepoel’s spring included a win at Amstel Gold Race, but also disruption. A crash at Volta a Catalunya interrupted his rhythm, and he was unable to follow the decisive move at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Lipowitz keeps race rhythm
Lipowitz arrives in a different position. He has built consistent form through the spring stage races, finishing second at the Tour de Romandie after earlier podiums at Volta a Catalunya and Itzulia Basque Country.
He will take a short recovery break before heading to altitude, then race the Tour of Slovenia as his final test before July. “Florian has been extremely consistent across his last three stage races,” Dempster said. “We achieved the desired performance stimulus this spring, and most importantly, he gained a lot of confidence in the path we’ve mapped out together.”
Florian Lipowitz, Tadej Pogacar and Lenny Martinez on the Tour de Romandie 2026 final podium
Different routes to the same target
Both riders remain part of the team’s general classification plan, but their form and preparation now differ. Lipowitz has delivered consistent stage race results and matched the strongest riders in the mountains this spring. Evenepoel brings time trial strength and race-winning explosiveness, but with fewer recent GC tests.
With Tadej Pogacar still setting the benchmark, Red Bull are balancing two approaches. Lipowitz will arrive with race sharpness. Evenepoel will arrive fresh.
The road will decide which plan leads to team leadership at the Tour de France.
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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- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
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