Florian Lipowitz has once again proven that he has to be taken seriously with his GC bid at the Tour de France. The young climber arrived to Superbagneres in fifth place and suddenly stands on the provisional Grand Tour podium.

“Coming into the Tour, I never thought about the podium or fighting for it,” the German told reporters after stage 14. “I knew I was in good shape and now I’m third and I have the white jersey, I can only be happy.”

“We are a team, and we talk together. So far, I’ve shown that I’m in good shape, but Primoz is the leader. We are very close. He’s the one who will tell me what to do and what the plan is for the next few days. He showed yesterday in the time trial that he can perform very well and I think he’s a rider cut out for the third week. I’m sure we’ll see great things from him.”

Lipowitz moves into the white jersey today, mostly due to Remco Evenepoel’s abandon earlier that day. The Belgian found himself completely empty and gave up on the first big climb of the day. “It was sad to learn of Remco Evenepoel’s withdrawal. He was one of the big favorites for the podium. I feel sorry for him, but we have to stay focused on our ambitions.”

“The team’s goal is to be on the podium of the Tour, and we’ll have to see who will fight for it, Primoz or me. Two weeks are almost over, but everyone knows that the third is the hardest. The stages are going to be very tough, with a lot of climbing. We’ll see how the legs are. I hope they stay as they are,” Lipowitz concluded.

The German rider currently sits third overall, 3:40 behind Jonas Vingegaard and almost 8 minutes shy of Tadej Pogacar. While moving up will prove to be a tough task, the 24-year-old’s position in the standings is not bad with a 1:25 buffer over Oscar Onley more riders another further minute back, including teammate Primoz Roglic.