This is because of his nationality, and the history that Evenepoel carries since the junior ranks. The Belgian has also achieved a lot in his career and is the reigning double Olympic champion; World and European time trial champion. Alongside that, he was the runner-up at both Worlds, Europeans and Il Lombardia behind only Tadej Pogacar. Hence Lipowitz will team up with one of the best in the world.
“I never expected something like this. My coach always said he saw this coming, but it certainly didn’t feel that way to me,” Lipowitz said in words to Het Nieuwsblad, referencing the Criterium du Dauphiné and Tour de France breakout, where he was third behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard in both. His consistency, climbing ability and time trialing prowess all impressed and have confirmed him as one of this generations’ best.
“And after the Tour… You read a lot about yourself on the internet, and it’s not easy to relax. I think my body was simply at its limit and needed a break,” he added. The 25-year old raced the Deutschland Tour, and then both Canadian classics (which he did not finish) to conclude his season. “It’s also important to me that my life doesn’t revolve solely around cycling. I’m happy when I can be alone again. I try to tune out the attention, but these days you can’t completely avoid it.”
Comparisons to Remco Evenepoel
Besides Lipowitz, Primoz Roglic, Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari, the German team will welcome a new weapon into their arsenal: Evenepoel. He is a different type of figure in the peloton and very much the opposite of Lipowitz. “Remco enjoys the attention and being the center of attention. That doesn’t really apply to me”.
But that can be beneficial for the German climber, who has expressed his desire to race the Tour de France next year, as has Evenepoel. “Maybe we complement each other well. My program? Of course you want to ride the Tour, but a lot can happen, and the final entry list isn’t determined until shortly beforehand. If you go back a year, it’s not the end of the world.”