Florian Lipowitz abandons Tour de France after serious crash, broken collarbone confirmed

Drama at the Tour de France: Florian Lipowitz crashed heavily during the individual time trial and was forced to abandon the race. In the evening, his team confirmed the diagnosis. The stage was won by Remco Evenepoel, Lipowitz's co-captain at Red Bull.

Crash and Immediate Aftermath

Supported by a caretaker and with severe wounds on his shoulder and leg, Florian Lipowitz boarded the Medical Truck of the Tour de France. Around 40 minutes earlier, the German cycling hope had crashed in a right-hand bend during the time trial and had to abandon the world's biggest race. Visibly shocked and walking slowly, he entered the vehicle. His girlfriend Antonia Weeger rushed over shortly after.

Diagnosis Confirmed

In the evening, his team Red Bull announced the diagnosis: Lipowitz suffered a broken collarbone in the crash.

"It's a real shame he can't continue. We will miss him not only in the fight for the podium, we will miss him as a person." — Team boss Ralph Denk

"I heard that Florian crashed. That puts a damper on everything. I wish him a speedy recovery." — Remco Evenepoel, stage winner and Lipowitz's teammate

Stage Results

The Olympic champion from Belgium was 28 seconds faster than Tadej Pogacar over the 26.1 kilometers to Thonon-les-Bains. Pogacar continues to lead the overall classification comfortably.

| Position | Rider | Time Behind Pogacar | |----------|-------|---------------------| | 1st | Tadej Pogacar | — | | 2nd | Remco Evenepoel | +4:32 | | 3rd | Isaac del Toro | +6:51 |

Details of the Crash

Lipowitz had started the stage in fifth place overall and was delivering an excellent time trial until the crash. Only Evenepoel and Pogacar were clearly faster. Around eight kilometers from the finish, Lipowitz's front wheel slipped out from under him in a right-hand bend. The 25-year-old had no chance, hit the asphalt, and slid into the curb. A few minutes later, at the same spot, Pogacar's rear wheel also slipped twice.

"In the corner where Lipo crashed, I almost fell too. I hope Lipo is okay." — Tadej Pogacar

Team Reaction

"It's very bitter to see that. Mixed emotions: over the moon with Remco's victory, but the loss of Lipo was a heavy blow for the team." — Sports director Klaas Lodewyck

Lipowitz is the second podium contender, after Dane Jonas Vingegaard, to be out of the race. The rider from Swabia had sensationally finished third overall in the Tour de France last year.

Evening Doping Control at Red Bull

The late evening before the individual time trial had not gone as usual for Evenepoel and Lipowitz: doping control officers arrived late in the evening. All eight riders of the Red Bull team were tested around 10 p.m., a spokesperson confirmed.

However, this was not one of the controversial night-time controls that recently affected Pogacar and Vingegaard. Pogacar was woken at 5 a.m., and Vingegaard at 2 a.m. before his crash.

"It's still within reason. I was done at 10:30 p.m. That's better than 2 a.m. There were three or four of them on site. It went pretty quickly, they did it professionally." — Teammate Nico Denz to ARD

Incident Involving Brandon McNulty

Before the start of the stage, Brandon McNulty, a teammate of Pogacar and Cologne's Nils Politt, experienced a different problem. The US racer collided with a car.

"The driver was angry behind him. We don't know why. He overtook Brandon, stopped the car. And then Brandon unfortunately collided with the car." — Team boss Mauro Gianetti on Eurosport

In the end, it was "nothing too big." "Everything is fine," Gianetti added.