"There is no more complete rider" - But Florian Lipowitz refuses to call Tadej Pogacar unbeatable as Red Bull prepare double Tour de France threat

Florian Lipowitz returns to the Tour de France, and this time he no longer arrives as a surprise. After his sensational podium finish last year, the German starts the 113th edition of the French Grand Tour with a new status, greater expectations and a high-profile partner at his side: Remco Evenepoel.

At Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, Lipowitz and the Belgian double Olympic champion go into the race as co-leaders. On paper, that sounds like a luxury. In practice, it will be one of the most intriguing dynamics of this Tour.

While Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard remain the big favourites, Lipowitz wants to show that his performance last year was not a one-off outlier.

A year ago, Lipowitz rode into his first Tour de France with a certain carefree attitude. The former biathlete from Ulm was no longer an unknown quantity, but very few people expected him to finish on the podium.

In the end, only Pogacar and Vingegaard finished ahead of him. Third place was a breakthrough that changed his career, and also changed the expectations around him. “The expectations are completely different this time,” Lipowitz told Welt before travelling to the Grand Depart. The aim is to prove “that you can repeat the performance or even improve on it.”

That is now the new task. Lipowitz is no longer the hunter from the shadows, but a rider the competition will be watching.

Shortly before the start in Barcelona, Lipowitz sought calm one last time. At a private training camp in Kuhtai, high in the Stubai Alps, he worked on the final details. Altitude training, clear routines, a few relaxed hours with his girlfriend Antonia Weeger, before three weeks of chaos begin again in France.

His form is good. At the Tour of Slovenia, Lipowitz recently produced a dominant performance, winning two stages and securing the overall victory. It was not the strongest race on the calendar, but for both mind and legs, the success came at the right time. “Victories always bring confidence,” said team boss Ralph Denk.

That applies especially to Lipowitz. He travels to the Tour not only knowing that he can survive three weeks, but also with the feeling that he can win again.

The big question at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is how the dual leadership will work. Remco Evenepoel has everything a Tour figure needs. He is Olympic champion in the road race and time trial, a Vuelta winner, a world champion and someone who does not shy away from the spotlight. At the start of the Tour, that may be exactly where he belongs.

Denk called Evenepoel a kind of “frontman”, while describing Lipowitz as “a bit of a wingman”. At the same time, the team boss made clear that both riders go into the Tour on equal footing.

That can be both an opportunity and a risk. If both work, the team has two cards for the general classification. If one falters, the other could benefit. And if Evenepoel runs into early problems as he did last year, it is even possible that the Belgian could become a luxury helper for Lipowitz in the Alps.

For the German, that would be worth gold. The fight for the podium is likely to be even tighter this year.

Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard remain the benchmark in 2026. Every rider dreaming of the Tour de France podium, or even yellow, will be measured against them.

Lipowitz knows that. But he no longer sounds like someone admiring them only from a distance. Speaking about Vingegaard, he said the gap to the Dane is no longer so big. That is notable enough. The bigger challenge, however, remains Pogacar. The Slovenian has been operating in a league of his own for years and looks complete on almost every terrain.

Lipowitz phrased it respectfully, but not reverently. There is “no more complete rider” than Pogacar, he said. That makes it “almost impossible” to beat him. The crucial addition came straight afterwards: “But only almost.”

It is not a loud declaration of war. It is more a sentence that shows how much Lipowitz’s self-image has changed.

Behind the big names, another rider could also alter the podium fight: Paul Seixas. The French super-talent is riding his first Tour de France and carries the hopes of an entire cycling nation.

The 19-year-old has already hinted this spring at the level he possesses. At the same time, a three-week Tour is another world. After his heavy crash two weeks ago, it remains unclear how consistent Seixas can be over 21 stages.

For Lipowitz, he is still an additional rival. The road back to the podium will not be easier. Pogacar and Vingegaard remain above everyone, Evenepoel rides in his own team, and Seixas brings new unpredictability. That is exactly what makes Lipowitz’s second Tour so intriguing.

Since Jan Ullrich’s Tour victory in 1997, German cycling has been waiting for a rider who can consistently fight at the very front of the general classification in the French Grand Tour. Lipowitz reopened that door last year. Now he has to prove that he did not merely push it ajar.

He is a year older, arrives with strong results and has Evenepoel as a teammate who can take pressure off him, but also become an internal challenge. The favourites are Pogacar and Vingegaard, but Lipowitz no longer starts as an outsider story. He starts as a podium rider who wants to attack again.