Lipowitz and Evenepoel reunite for second place

Five days after the heated controversy that engulfed the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe bus at the end of the sixth stage of the Tour de France, when Remco Evenepoel harshly criticized his teammate Florian Lipowitz for his lack of cooperation, the atmosphere in Le Lioran after the tenth stage couldn't have been more different. Peace truly seems to have been restored.

The day's victory was out of reach for everyone, including Pogačar, as the Slovenian dominated the tough stage in the Massif Central. Yet Evenepoel's second place and Lipowitz's fourth place still represent an excellent collective result for the Austrian team. Furthermore, the way the two worked together to secure the maximum possible overall standings speaks volumes about their renewed connection.

The key moment? When Pogačar broke away, Lipowitz immediately joined the chasing group, ceasing to cooperate as soon as he realized Evenepoel was struggling slightly on the Col de Font de Cére, a third-category climb. A smart move: keeping the pace low within the group allowed the Belgian to rejoin more easily, demonstrating that this time, unlike the challenging episode on the Tourmalet, the collective interest prevailed over the individual.

Outside the team bus, a Belgian journalist fired a direct question at Lipowitz: "Florian, did you wait for Remco?" The German's response was simple and disarming: "In the end, I didn't work in the group." And when the reporter replied with a curt "Yes, we saw him," Lipowitz calmly dismissed the controversy: "For me, there was nothing else to do but hope he would come back, and he did. We're happy with that."

The German rider then reconstructed the dynamics of the stage: "We tried to close on Pogačar, we still believed we could fight for the win. Then I saw that Remco had a small gap. I was behind Jonas and knew he would come back on the descent. In the end, we raced for second place and I think we can be satisfied."

Lipowitz, fourth, 34 seconds behind the winner, just behind Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), moved up to sixth in the overall standings with a gap of 4:44, gaining ground on rivals like Jonas Vingegaard and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) after Isaac del Toro's difficult day. A quiet but significant climb, excellent for fantasy cycling: those who had him on their team can smile.

The German then expressed his confidence ahead of the second week: "My legs were the best I've had in the entire race so far. The rest day was very beneficial. Now we have two sprinter stages, one breakaway stage, and then two more days in the mountains: the next battle will come this weekend."

As for a realistic goal for the final part of the race, Lipowitz didn't shy away from the matter: beating Pogačar is out of the question, but the podium is a concrete and ambitious goal. "Pogačar is already about four minutes ahead of us, so there's not much we can do on that front. But second place is now quite open, and if we work together, we can certainly fight for it."