Evenepoel Snaps at Journalists, Lipowitz Stays Calm Ahead of Tour de France

The press conference of the German team Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe ahead of the Tour de France was tense. Before the start of the 113th edition of the Tour, dual leaders Florian Lipowitz (25) and Remco Evenepoel (26) faced journalists in Barcelona. The Tour begins on Saturday with a team time trial over 19.6 kilometers.

The Red Bull Strategy

The German and the Belgian enter the race as equals. Both aim for the podium and intend to make life as difficult as possible for top favorites Tadej Pogačar (27) and Jonas Vingegaard (29). The Slovenian Pogačar has won the Grande Boucle four times and is the defending champion, while the Dane Vingegaard has been successful twice. Red Bull wants to challenge both—but Evenepoel, in particular, already appears overly nervous. He is expected to work well with Lipowitz.

Remco Evenepoel at the team presentation in Barcelona on Thursday. Photo: Stephanie Lecocq/REUTERS

Even the simplest questions threw the double Olympic champion off balance. He seemed insecure and snappish, apparently feeling attacked. Is he already struggling with the dual-leader team tactic? Or is he putting too much pressure on himself after having to abandon the race on Stage 14 a year ago—due to exhaustion? A simple question about the order of Red Bull riders in the team time trial made him frown.

"For that, you just need to look at the photos from the course inspection," he replied curtly.

Evenepoel Eyes Yellow at Tour Start

The German team has big plans for the opening stage. They are already eyeing the stage win. Evenepoel on the goals for the coming three weeks until July 26:

• Win a stage
• Win the time trial
• Take the yellow jersey with the team on the first day

It is not out of the question that he crosses the finish line first and gets to wear the coveted jersey. To do so, he must go into attack mode with the seven other pros, as he hinted at on stage on Thursday.

Florian Lipowitz's terrain is the mountains. Photo: WITTERS

"I know what you're getting at," he snapped at a questioner. "You want to hear that I want to be on the podium, and you also want to hear that Florian says the same thing. And of course that's the case. We both want to repeat what we have already achieved."

Evenepoel was third in 2024, Lipowitz a year later.

"Whether it's him or me, we will do it the right way, without all this negative energy," said the Belgian.

But due to the way he answered, only he was negative.

Lipowitz Stays Cool

Yet he could have been positive. He is in good form, gets along well with Lipowitz, and they respect each other.

"At the Tour of Catalonia, you could see that we get along well and support each other. That's the most important thing in the Tour. There's a super relaxed atmosphere. Everyone knows their place in the team. I have great respect for him and his achievements," Lipowitz told BILD.

Evenepoel fortunately sees it the same way:

"We showed in Catalonia that we can work well together. I don't have much more to say about that."

Unique! Remco Evenepoel won double gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Photo: picture alliance/ASSOCIATED PRESS

What really got him riled up was a question from a German journalist who wanted to know what one could learn from the other. Evenepoel snapped at him: "We müs...