Florian Lipowitz is aiming for the podium in his unplanned start to the difficult Tour of the Basque Country. “He was fourth last year and he always wants to improve,” said team boss Ralph Denk to the dpa. The race in northern Spain begins today with an individual time trial in Bilbao over 13.8 kilometers.
Last year, Lipowitz missed the podium by just eight seconds, with Maximilian Schachmann coming third instead. It was not actually planned that Lipowitz would start again in the Basque Country with a view to the Tour de France. “We discussed it up and down whether it was good for him or not,” said Denk. “We came to the decision that it was the right decision to add another race and I am convinced that he will drive well.”
No healing hands
The background is that Lipowitz is once again ill; the 25-year-old often has to struggle with infections. Most recently, the third-place finisher on the tour was unable to complete a high-altitude training camp on Tenerife as planned, but still came third in the following Tour of Catalonia.
The team is investing a lot to ensure Lipowitz stays healthy. “But we don’t have any healing hands either. You can only do everything you can to avoid this as best as possible,” said Denk. “The sport is so hard and even the greats, with the exception of perhaps Tadej Pogacar, get sick sometimes.”
Little cherry on the cake
Remco Evenepoel has already achieved a podium finish with third place in his first start at the Tour of Flanders. For Red Bull it was the best placement in the Ronde in the team’s history. “The classic team can be proud of what they have achieved. The only thing missing was the cherry on the cake,” said Denk. “Is that the cherry now? I’ll say it’s a small one and maybe there’ll be a big one at some point.”
Olympic champion Evenepoel’s start was only officially announced four days before the race. The Belgian delivered a strong race, but in the end had no chance against the winner Pogacar and second-placed Mathieu van der Poel.
