Florian Lipowitz’s Tour de France ended abruptly on the 26-kilometer ride along the Genfer See when he crashed in a right-hand bend, hit his shoulder on the curb and was forced to abandon the race. He could not get back up on his own, was strapped to a stretcher and taken by ambulance to hospital.
The crash cut short a day when Lipowitz was still moving up the standings, having made up time on Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas before the fall changed everything. That is why the result mattered beyond one rider’s bad luck: it removed a contender from the fight just as the race was tightening behind Tadej Pogacar.
Remco Evenepoel won the stage and crossed the line 28 seconds ahead of Pogacar, who stayed in yellow. Evenepoel called it a bittersweet victory and said he had heard about Lipowitz’s crash. He said he was very sorry and hoped Lipowitz would feel better soon.
Pogacar also said he hoped Lipo was okay and added that organization cars were in front of him, limiting his view of the bend; he said he nearly crashed there himself. His words matched the picture from the road: a fast time trial, one awkward corner, and a fall that left Lipowitz out of the Tour before the final mountain block.
The next three hard Alpine stages arrive on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and Red Bull’s target remains to have a rider on the podium in Paris on Sunday. For Lipowitz, the immediate question is the one the roadside ambulance raised and the hospital has not answered yet: how badly he was hurt in the crash.
