“Will give everything”
Lipowitz competitor sends a declaration of war in front of tour final
25.07.2025 – 12:41 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The race for the tour victory seems to be decided three days before the last stage. It looks different with the fight for third place.
The 18th stage on Thursday was not a good one for the German tour driver Florian Lipowitz. He decided to pull out to make up for a few seconds to Oscar Onley. Onley is his biggest competitor for the white jersey and third place in the overall ranking. But Lipowitz ‘Plan failed, the German was caught up a few kilometers before the finish line and could not go the high pace of the best -placed drivers in the overall classification. He was left behind at the Col de la Loze.
Overall, Lipowitz lost 1:39 minutes to Onley, which is why the lead has shrunk to 22 seconds. “It was a hard day. I don’t really know how to put it. The pace was high, but I did a lot. It was good for us,” said onley after the race – and sent a declaration of war afterwards: “The deficit to the podium is no longer big, so we will give everything tomorrow.”
Today’s 19th stage is probably the last opportunity for onley, time to make up for time on Lipowitz. Due to a beef virus, the stage was shortened to 93 kilometers. It will be particularly exciting how Lipowitz has recovered from the exhausting 18th stage. After yesterday’s section, he said: “I tried to whip, but I noticed the last ten kilometers: the energy is no longer there. And then it was only a pain. The last two kilometers were hell.”