Florian Lipowitz is one of the biggest breakthroughs of this season. Out of nowhere, he rode to third at the Tour de Romandie winning the queen stage and was set to make an impression at the Giro d'Italia before he was forced to abandon in the first week. At this Vuelta a España, he confirmed his full potential.
"The team did not have its best day. Guys told us this morning that they did not feel well, they had stomach problems," Lipowitz said in a post-race interview this Saturday. "It is super sad to lose guys right at the end of the Vuelta a España. Other riders, like myself, felt good, and we were able to do a super good job for Primoz. He keeps the red jersey, and since he is good on the time trial, we can be confident for tomorrow".
Lipowitz did not have to do much work since Roglic himself was on a good day and managed to defend himself successfully against the likes of Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz, and the German rode himself to a ninth place on the road which saw him overtake Carlos Rodríguez in the overall classification. The 23-year old will conclude his first ever Grand Tour with a spectacular result in a race where he had to hit the wind quite a bit for his leader.
"I didn't expect this result. Since I couldn't finish the Giro d'Italia earlier in the year, my goal was just to get to Madrid," he admits; whilst Daniel Martínez (who he worked for in the Giro) never got to his best form. "I was really surprised to be able to fight with the best in the mountains. Sure, I had a few bad days, but I think I managed this Vuelta pretty well, so I'm really happy," he concluded. Lipowitz has a bright future and is one of the many Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe talents that are coming through the ranks at high speeds ahead of more quality signings.
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