Cycling | Red Bull continues to prepare for victory at the Tour de France

A tour begins in Prague on Wednesday, where Germany's new cycling star Florian Lipowitz celebrated his first professional victories. His Red Bull team really wants to win the Tour de France in the future, but the German team isn't sure yet which rider he'll be teaming up with: Next year, Tour bronze-place finisher Lipowitz will be aiming for major victories alongside Belgian Remco Evenepoel. Tour dominator Tadej Pogacar, on the other hand, is already reflecting on his retirement.

Yellow pleases

In July 2023, just as the best professional cyclists were recovering from the rigors of the Tour de France, Lipowitz, then 22, set off for the Czech Tour. In the Beskydy Mountains, the eight-kilometer climb to Pustevny and the even steeper climb to Šternberk, which has become famous primarily through motor racing, beckoned. The Laichingen native was just entering his first year as a professional, but had already attracted attention in the spring with a brilliant breakaway attempt at the Tour of the Alps. In the Czech Republic, he finally became a winning rider. On the rainy stage to Pustevny, he temporarily lost contact on the descent, but on the climb he was the strongest, taking the stage win and the yellow jersey. Florian Lipowitz liked the fabric so much that he didn't give it up for the next few days, riding home as the overall winner of a tour for the first time.

"A dream came true," Lipowitz said at the time. He described his third-place finish at the Tour de France in July almost word for word. He had described his successes in the Czech Republic as "life-changing results" – which certainly proved true at this year's Tour de France .

Key figure in the exchange business

This year, the Czech Tour is heading up to Pustevny again. The World Tour teams Visma, led by Tour runner-up Jonas Vingegaard , and Soudal Quick Step, led by double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, are competing. The stars themselves won't be making an appearance, giving younger riders a chance. Red Bull will be represented with its U23 division, whose sporting director is former Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout. He led Evenepoel to his Olympic successes and was considered a key figure in the recent transfer of talent. The coach is already there; he will "learn the team culture and structure from the ground up" with the young talent, according to Red Bull.

The 25-year-old Evenepoel will join the German racing team at the turn of the year. According to information from the "Gazzetta dello Sport," he will receive a three-year contract worth a total of 20 million euros. This puts him behind Slovenian Pogačar, who is expected to receive an annual base salary of eight million euros, but ahead of Dane Vingegaard, who is expected to receive around five million euros per year.

New helpers

Evenepoel also wants and should compete in these regions in terms of sport and win nothing less than the Tour de France. The conditions are good. With his old team, he was often without help in the mountains; at Red Bull, it can be assumed that riders like Lipowitz, former Giro winner Jai Hindley, or the young Italian Giulio Pellizzari can still be among the frontrunners even on the final summit.

With Lipowitz, the German racing team now has a luxury problem. The Swabian has appeared stronger in his direct encounters with Evenepoel in the mountains this season, while the Belgian is a force in the time trial. Whether this constellation develops into a problem depends on the tactical requirements. Because of their complementary talents, the two could form a perfect double lead in the Grand Tours. And at least Lipowitz is someone who can also begrudge others success. Evenepoel, despite all his personal ambition, distinguishes himself as someone who can recognize someone stronger.

Belgian entourage

Another challenge will be to integrate the Belgian's entourage into the team in such a way that two camps do not emerge – Team Remco and the rest of Red Bull. In addition to coach Vanthourenhout, other confidants of Evenepoel are expected to join the team: racing driver Mattia Cattaneo as a kind of bodyguard on the bike, a masseur, a mechanic, and another sports director from Soudal Quick Step.

Regardless of these shifts in the balance of power, Pogačar expressed initial thoughts about retiring. "I'm already counting the years I have left until retirement," the 26-year-old said on Slovenian television. "I won't stop immediately," he reassured his fans, "but I won't continue much longer. The 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles are one of my goals. After that, I'll think about retiring."

Evenepoel and Lipowitz will have to hurry if they want to beat Pogačar at the Tour and not go down in history as those who only came into their own after the dominator's retirement.