Royal stage of the Tour de France
Courage was punished: Lipowitz loses time in the fight for third place
Updated on July 24, 2025 – 5:55 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The royal stage of the Tour de France offered plenty of tension and attacks. In the end, Ben O’Connor won. Florian Lipowitz had a strong day – however, the tactic did not work.
On Thursday, the bike stars around Tadej Pogačar (“Uae Team Emirates XRG”) and Jonas Vingegaard (“Visma – Lease A Bike”) had to prove on the royal stage at the Col de la Loze. Ben O’Connor won the spectacle in front of Tadej Pogačar. The 18th stage offered exciting attacks – also by Florian Lipowitz.
The German from the team “Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe” attacked and temporarily sat in front of the exceptional drivers. In the end he arrived at the finish line and lost important time in the fight for third place in the overall classification. Before the stage, Lipowitz’s lead was over two minutes. Onley finished fourth on Thursday. Lipowitz defended third place in the overall classification, but his lead shrank to 22 seconds.
In the meantime, Lipowitz had even drove out a three -minute lead on his direct competitor Onley. However, he lost the lead again because ONLEY was able to ride in the wind shadow of the group around Pogačar. He saved strength and fetched Lipowitz – who drove alone for long distances.
At the final climb, onley remained on the group around Pogačar and Vingegaard, while Lipowitz was left behind and collected behind. The Lipowitz team wanted to attack bravely, but in the end the tactics did not work. Because the teammate of Lipowitz, Primož Roglič, was also left behind at the Col de la Loze when onley could keep up. The Slovenian arrived as a seventh at the finish line, is in fifth place in the overall classification.
Lipowitz explained in the ARD with a view of his attack: “Where we were in the valley, everyone looked a bit and I tried. I tried to pacen. I noticed the last ten kilometers, the energy is no longer there, it was only a pain. The last two kilometers were hell. Fortunately, I did it to the finish.”
With a view of the 19th stage, Lipowitz said: “Now relax and then set up a plan as a team. I feel totally ko, but now it’s still three days – the motivation is there. I hope I have good legs tomorrow.”