'He wears his heart on his sleeve' - Red Bull explain Evenepoel's frustration after Lipowitz incident

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was visibly frustrated finishing fourth in Gavarnie-Gèdre on stage 6 of the Tour de France, missing out on the final stage podium place and four bonus seconds after being outsprinted by Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). 

The Olympic champion later said he was “angry, and rightly so” after claiming Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) had not provided the lead-out he requested in the closing kilometres.

Speaking before the start of Stage 7 on Friday morning, Zak Dempster said the situation had already been addressed internally and that the team had moved on.

“After the finish, we all saw Remco [Evenepoel], you know, he wanted to be third, and he was fourth in the end, so he was frustrated, and things like that happen. But, yeah, we’ve had the debrief now and all good and on we go with the Tour de France.”

Dempster also acknowledged that Evenepoel’s reaction was the result of the pressure and emotion of racing at the Tour and something that was in the heat of the moment, rather than an indication of a deeper fracture within the team.

“Remco is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, and it’s just part of the game,” he said.

“What’s important to me is how they are together and how we resolve these things internally, and it’s a constant process to improve. And of course, if we want to be at the front and fighting for the most important results, this is part of that, and that’s it.”

He also defended Evenepoel’s reaction after the finish, highlighting the intense media attention surrounding the Belgian and his willingness to express his emotions openly.

“Well, given the amount of microphones that follow Remco around, I suppose it is because he wears his heart on his sleeve,” Dempster said.

“He’s just a kid, and he’s been himself, and he feels frustrated, he said it. So, like I said, we handled it internally, and, yeah, on we go.”

Dempster also confirmed that Evenepoel and Lipowitz spoke after arriving back at the hotel on Thursday evening.

“Yeah they spoke last night when I got back to the hotel, so obviously it’s tricky when you have the bus on the bottom, and then it’s a rush to get back to the hotel, but they’ve spoken and all good.”

The Australian explained that the dispute was the result of a lack of communication and a racing situation, rather than a lack of willingness from Lipowitz to support his teammate's ambitions in the finale.

“In the end, I think it was like, we all saw there wasn’t great collaboration in that group,” Dempster said.

“I think at one point, 2km to go when Lipo was on the front, I think there was it that he went like a progression to the finish line. Remco wanted him to do that, but then by the time Remco opened up again, he couldn’t get back there, so in the end, it’s split-second decisions that then, after that, you need to debrief and learn from, and that’s what’s happened, and that’s it.”

Despite the disagreement and the glaring spotlight on the German team that has followed as a consequence, Dempster maintained that having a dual leadership for the GC remains a strength for Red Bull.

“It’s been the plan all along and we’re still here,” he said. “I think it’s a really strong position to be in. Obviously, a great tactic would be to hold Pogačar’s wheel, but you can’t always do that. So I think it’s better to have two than one for sure.”