For almost twenty years now, Germany has been looking for a successor to Jan Ullrich, the last winner of the Tour de France who came from across the Rhine in 1997. If Andreas Klöden gave the illusion of being able to take up the torch , he quickly sank with doping cases as a chain to his ankle. Emanuel Buchmann created an illusion during a Tour de France by taking 4e place in 2019, but without follow-up. Disgusted by the Ullrich years and the scandals that went with them, Germany may be seeing the end of the tunnel. And that thin glow is straight out of biathlon.
At 23, Florian Lipowitz symbolizes Germany’s new hope, in search of its new leader in the mountains. Still little known before the Tour de Romandie, the slender climber revealed himself in Switzerland and seems to be continuing his momentum during the Giro, as evidenced by his 5e place in Oropa, during the second stage of the Tour of Italy. However, it is indeed a career as a biathlete that the German could have embraced. From the age of 8, he put on skis and loaded his rifle. It was only at the age of 20 that he took up cycling after an injury. “At that time, I could only ride my bike for traininghe explains for Direct Bike . Gradually, I did more and more. Subsequently, I had some contacts, notably with Dan Lorang, the performance director of the BORA-Hansgrohe team. He gave me some tests on the bike. Tirol KTM Cycling Team then offered me the opportunity to race with them. I then had to choose which direction I was going to go. I thought I could try competitive cycling. »
The World Tour from 2022
A choice which is paying off today, especially since, if Lipowitz were a good biathlete, he would probably never have reached the summit, as biathlon specialists explain. Eurosport Germany : “He was strong as a biathlete, national sprint and individual champion in the U16 category, but he was not a fuoriclasse ». In 2021, in his second competitive year in cycling, he placed an encouraging 15e Place du Tour de l’Avenir. Enough to open the doors of BORA-Hansgrohe from 2022. The German team led by Ralph Denk, used to shaping athletes, is not frightened by this prototype. Quite the contrary. Primoz Roglic went from ski jumper to three-time Vuelta winner, and Anton Palzer put aside his career as a ski mountaineer to also become a climber.
The man who has long shared his life between Germany and Austria, as a symbol of the tension between two disciplines, is now well launched into a cycling career, tackling the mountains. By 2021, he knew he was “climber, with a preference for long climbs”, but recognized his shortcomings in the time trial. The prerogative of pure climbers.
On the first stage of the Giro, he was also able to see his difficulties on the short climbs and climbs at a high pace, losing almost two minutes on the road to Turin. But towards the sanctuary of Oropa, where the legend of Marco Pantani was partly forged, the German honored his nature as a climber by standing up to Tadej Pogacar, from a distance at least. As soon as the German took things in hand for his leader Daniel Martinez, the gap remained at around 30” compared to the Slovenian, who was no longer gaining ground.
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While he should continue this Giro in the shoes of a lieutenant for Martinez, notably the fault of the two minutes conceded towards Turin and those which should pass during the time trial on Friday, Lipowitz could make sparks in the mountains. Before, perhaps, doing more as a leader, to the great happiness of Germany, perhaps no longer an orphan for a long time.
