The Tour of Catalonia showed: Florian Lipowitz is stronger on the mountain than Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian newcomer from Red Bull Bora-hansGroße is now “escaped” into the next big classic.
Remco Evenepoel is not considered an easy character. It is said that the Belgian cycling star is quick-tempered, extremely ambitious, and sometimes not very team-oriented. What the fans of the German team Red Bull Bora-hansgrohe recently saw at the Tour of Catalonia was all the more astonishing. Evenepoel apparently put himself at the service of the team without complaint when he unselfishly helped his better-placed teammate Florian Lipowitz on the last two stages to secure his third place overall.
Things with Evenepoel, the only German top team in the cycling scene, were not easy from the start. After the team around boss Ralph Denk was unable to come close to achieving the victories that the new, powerful sponsor Red Bull had in mind in the spring of 2025, they hit the transfer market in a big way. A real superstar was needed.
Evenepoel – the longed-for superstar for Red Bull Bora-hansgrohe
Alone: You couldn’t get Tadej Pogacar any more than you could get Jonas Vingegaard, and Mathieu van der Poel wasn’t available for Team Alpecin either. They found what they were looking for with Evenepoel – the double Olympic champion from 2024, who won the individual time trial and road race in Paris. Evenepoel, who won the Vuelta in 2022 as a Yongster, wanted to increasingly set his sights on the big tours after his third place overall in the Tour de France 2024 – he did not see the optimal opportunities for this with his previous team Soudal Quick Step. With Bora, yes.
Extremely ambitious: Remco Evenepoel
The change was clear early on in 2025, even before the Tour de France in the summer. Where suddenly “No Name” Florian Lipowitz made a big impression. The German career changer from biathlon rose like a phoenix from the ashes in the Red Bull Bora-hansgrohe jersey and took an astonishing and triumphant third place overall behind Pogacar and Vingegaard.
Evenepoel – not an easy character
Evenepoel was more likely to be there – but the now 26-year-old got completely lost on the tour. After unexpectedly falling behind on some parts of the day, he left the Tourmalet on the 14th stage in frustration.
Evenepoel is considered extremely ambitious and self-confident, but he doesn’t deal well with setbacks. When he was left behind on the Tour, he got into a fight with a cameraman on the motorcycle; the same thing had happened to him months earlier at the Liège-Bastogne-Liège one-day race, when he was also left behind. “He has to learn that and let it bounce off him.”Jan Ullrich advised on TV at the time.
Lipowitz triumph on the tour came as a surprise
Completely unexpectedly, the Denk team came up with a double top for the major tours in 2026. But who would take on the captaincy of the Tour de France? Denk understandably didn’t want to start this discussion last August, when Evenepoel’s signing was officially announced. You will “Maybe internally for one race at some point” need to discuss. “I think we’ll divide up the Grand Tours quite well”the team boss evaded.
Florian Lipowitz – strong on the mountain during the Tour of Catalonia
Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe wool “the best cycling team in the world” Denk stated as a long-term goal. Evenepoel is therefore a logical commitment. “We are proud that we now have such a driver in our ranks, who has already achieved so much in his young years, but who we also believe has much, much more to come.”said Denk.
Lipowitz leaves Evenepoel behind on the mountain
Now, seven months later, we already know a little more. Lipowitz and Evenepoel started the difficult Tour of Catalonia together. The 25-year-old German prevailed there. Lipowitz left Evenepoel behind on stage 5 – a difficult mountain stage – and ultimately ended up third overall behind Vingegaard and Frenchman Lenny Martinez. Evenepoel only had to help his German teammate on the last two stages of the day.
It may seem premature to decide on the distribution of roles for the upcoming Tour de France based on this race. On the other hand, it became clear: Lipowitz seems to be the somewhat stronger man on the long climbs – on which the Tour de France will probably be decided again. It fits with this observation that Evenepoel surprisingly announced his start in the Tour of Flanders on Easter Sunday during the week.
Evenepoel starts at the Tour of Flanders
Evenepoel had previously stated several times that he did not want to take part in the second big spring classic of the year. Now the change of heart. “Flanders, are you ready?”Evenepoel asked in an Instagram post on Wednesday, confirming the speculation of the past few days. Is the Belgian already looking for his captaincy role in his team at other races?
In February, Evenepoel picked up some wins for Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe
Evenepoel came up with the surprise start together with his new German team. “The connection between Remco and the Tour of Flanders is deep and emotional. A plan like this does not happen in the short term”explained team boss Ralph Denk: “We deliberately kept the issue under the radar to make the moment a surprise for fans.”
Pogacar and van der Poel in the role of favorites
The plan worked and now changed the balance of power at least a little. Evenepoel, born in Aalst in East Flanders, is automatically one of the extended favorites because of his qualities, even though he lacks competitive toughness in the crucial pavement passages. “It’s been a long time, but I have a good feeling on the cobblestones”said the 26-year-old. However, he is not the hottest contender for victory on Sunday.
World champion Tadej Pogacar and his eternal rival in one-day races, Mathieu van der Poel, who have won the last four titles between them, will be difficult for the Belgian to beat.
