"The big unknown, however, is Remco Evenepoel" - Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe's leadership dilemma summarised by Eurosport analyst

Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe's dual leadership of Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz leaves the German team heading into the Tour de France, but one Eurosport analyst believes that the unknown could help them land a podium spot at the Grand Boucle.

Evenepoel and Lipowitz have been confirmed as their dual leaders for July 4th, but team manager Ralph Denk appeared to contradict that by naming the Belgian as the leader and Lipowitz as 'second man', seemingly indicating that there is a pecking order.

However, both riders come into the grand tour with different preparations. Evenepoel ended his classics campaign at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and opted for no pre-Tour racing as he focused only on training. Lipowitz, meanwhile, raced the Tour de Romandie and Tour of Slovenia.

In 2025, Lipowitz finished on the podium at the Tour behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard while the year before Evenepoel also did the same. Voight thinks the team are looking at the same placing.

"From my experience I can say: You usually only have a double lead if you yourself don't firmly believe in victory and it means that you're more likely to be eyeing second, third or fourth place - which would still be a huge result," Voigt told Eurosport.

While believing Lipowitz can again podium the race, he highlighted Evenepoel as the unknown quantity but will arrive mentally well-rested despite race sharpness.

He added: "I also believe that he can repeat this result. The big unknown, however, is Remco Evenepoel. When he arrives for the Tour, he hasn't competed in a cycling race for more than two months. Physically he will be strong and mentally rested, but he may lack race toughness."

With the first week of the Tour de France proving an explosive affair in recent editions, Voigt worries about the former world champion finding his rhythm. The question for Voigt is about asserting authority and whether Evenepoel can stay at the front in positioning battle.

"Cycling has become so unforgiving that at most Pogacar and Vingegaard still enjoy a little bit of respect. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how quickly Evenepoel finds his rhythm again.

He added: "Physically, he will be able to keep up without any problems. The question is rather whether he can immediately assert himself again in these battles for position."

However, the tour is likely to be decided in the high mountains - and that's where Voigt believes in Lipowitz. He thinks the duo being a strong general classification position or even with one already behind is still a positive for the team.

Voigt said: "As soon as we head into the high mountains, I currently consider Lipowitz the stronger and more reliable skier [rider, Ed.]. This isn't a criticism of Evenepoel. He's a double Olympic champion and an exceptional talent. But this year has shown that Lipowitz has an advantage in the high mountains."

"The crucial question will be what role Evenepoel plays in the further course of the race. Should he already be behind, he could either go for stage wins or completely dedicate himself to Lipowitz. That would of course be a strong combination."