Severe wounds on the shoulder and leg: Florian Lipowitz’s fall shock at the Tour de France

Tour dominator Tadej Pogacar’s first words were also directed at the Swabian. “In the corner where Lipo fell, I also almost fell. I hope Lipo is okay,” said the Slovenian. “We’ve seen what can happen here in just one day.”

Mixed feelings at Red Bull

Lipowitz started the stage fifth overall and delivered an excellent time trial until he crashed. Only the eventual stage winner Remco Evenepoel and Pogacar were significantly better. Around eight kilometers before the finish of the 26.1-kilometer time trial, Lipowitz’s front wheel slipped in a right-hand bend. The 25-year-old had no chance, hit the asphalt and slid to the curb. A few minutes later, Pogacar’s rear wheel slipped twice in the same place.

At the end of the time trial, Lipowitz’s teammate Evenepoel was 28 seconds ahead of Pogacar. “I heard that Florian fell. That gives the whole thing a bad aftertaste. I wish him a speedy recovery,” said the double Olympic champion from Belgium. In the overall standings, Evenepoel is second, Pogacar is 4:32 minutes ahead.

The mood in the Red Bull team was corresponding. “It’s very bitter to see this. There are mixed emotions: once to the moon with Remco’s victory, but the loss of Lipo was a heavy blow for the team,” said sporting director Klaas Lodewyck.

Lipowitz is the second favorite on the podium after the departure of the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, who is no longer there. The Swabian achieved a sensational third place overall in the Tour of France last year.

Nightly doping control at Red Bull

The night before the time trial didn’t start as usual for Evenepoel and Lipowitz. Doping controllers came by late at night. All eight Red Bull team drivers were checked around 10 p.m., a spokesman confirmed.

However, this was not one of the controversial night checks that recently took place with four-time tour winner Pogacar and Vingegaard, who was eliminated after a fall. Pogacar was woken up at five o’clock and Vingegaard at two o’clock in the morning before his fall.

“It’s still within limits. My turn was at 10:30 p.m. That’s better than 2:00 a.m. They were there with three or four men. It went quite quickly, they did it professionally,” teammate Nico Denz told ARD.