“There’s simply still too much missing” - Florian Lipowitz faces cruel Montreal Worlds dilemma as huge opportunity arrives just two months after Tour de France crash
CyclingThursday, 24 September 2026 at 13:00
Two months ago, Florian Lipowitz was fifth overall at the Tour de France and still building on a season that had established him among the strongest stage racers in the peloton. On Sunday in Montreal, he will line up for a World Championship that appears unusually open, but with no certainty that his body is ready to take advantage.
Tadej Pogacar will not defend his rainbow jersey, while the 273.4-kilometre route around Mont Royal features 3,803 metres of climbing and repeated opportunities for the strongest riders to make the difference.
“I’m definitely not back in top form yet. There’s simply still too much missing,” the 26-year-old admitted in comments reported by SID ahead of Sunday’s elite men’s road race. “It’s obvious that I’m not yet in a position to ride a super-strong race. But nevertheless, I’m happy to be here.”
Lipowitz crashed heavily during the stage 16 individual time trial at the Tour de France in July, hitting his shoulder against a kerb and breaking his collarbone. Surgery followed and his Tour was over immediately.
He had been fifth overall at the time, having finished fourth at Le Lioran, fifth at Plateau de Solaison and inside the top seven on several other major mountain stages.
Florian Lipowitz crashed out of the Tour de France earlier this summer
A season transformed by one Tour crash
Before July, Lipowitz had spent 2026 reinforcing his breakthrough from the previous season. Third overall at the 2025 Tour de France behind Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard had elevated him into the top level of Grand Tour contenders. This spring he finished third at the Volta a Catalunya, second at both Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie, then won the Tour of Slovenia in June with victories on its final two stages.
His second half of the season was instead rebuilt around rehabilitation. “Of course, it was a tough road to get back into shape. It wasn’t an easy time after the crash,” he said in Montreal.
Lipowitz returned to competition on 9 September, seven weeks after the Tour, and completed three Italian one-day races as part of his comeback. He finished 78th at the Giro della Toscana, 50th at the Memorial Marco Pantani and 69th at the Trofeo Matteotti as he built racing kilometres ahead of Montreal.
Sunday takes him considerably beyond anything he has faced since returning. The World Championship road race stretches beyond 270 kilometres, with the decisive racing likely to come after more than five hours in the saddle.
“It depends on who still has enough energy in the final hour to follow the moves or shape the race themselves,” Lipowitz said. “For me, of course, it was difficult in such a short period of time to build the kind of base you need to last for that long.”
Read also
Pogacar absence leaves Montreal wide open
Pogacar’s injury-enforced absence removes the rider who had dominated the previous two World Championship road races and reshapes the contest around Mont Royal.
Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas are among the major names expected to shape Sunday’s race. “With Pogacar not on the start line, it will certainly be different from the previous World Championships,” Lipowitz said. “I think it will be quite an open race.”
Germany will not be forced to build everything around Lipowitz. Marco Brenner, Nico Denz, Felix Engelhardt, Maximilian Schachmann and Georg Zimmermann complete the six-man selection, providing several options if the race develops beyond the German leader’s current limits.
After Montreal, Lipowitz programme is expected to continue in Italy before Il Lombardia brings his season to an end on 10 October. That leaves Sunday as his first meeting with the full world elite since the Tour crash, less than three weeks after his return to competition and on a course stretching to 273.4 kilometres.
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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santiagobenites23-09-2026 - My pick for the win is Isaac Del Toro, given how great he looked while winning the race in Montreal a week and a half ago. My sentimental favorite for the win is Wout Van Aert. I know that that's not going to happen, but I'm sure that a lot of cycling fans would be absolutely thrilled if he did.santiagobenites23-09-2026
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