Two weeks before the start of the Tour de France in Barcelona, and as many years since he last took an individual win, Florian Lipowitz has ticked an important box: victory on the Queen Stage of the Tour of Slovenia.
“Congratulations to the team, who did an exceptional job, and that put a bit of extra pressure on me to repay them with a victory,” Lipowitz told TV Slovenija. “I am really happy with this one, it is my first win in more than two years, and I am proud of the way we raced here.”
The young German has been the headline act at this week’s pre-Tour stage race where his team Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe is one of just two WorldTeams in the peloton. The German squad is by far the strongest in the race, with Lipowitz as its figurehead alongside two others that feature on the Tour team shortlist – Jan Tratnik and Mattia Cattaneo – and talented climber Giulio Pellizzari in the young Italian’s first race since a disappointing Giro d’Italia. With Laurance Pithie and fellow fast-finisher Arne Marit also at his disposal, along with the punchy Ben Zwiehoff, the Tour of Slovenia was Lipowitz’s race to lose from day one.
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