Red Bull downplays friction between Evenepoel and Lipowitz - 'It happened in the heat of the moment'

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team manager Ralph Denk has moved to defuse the tension between Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz, insisting their disagreement after stage 6 of the Tour de France was little more than a misunderstanding in the heat of the race.

Evenepoel had openly expressed his frustration after finishing third in Gavarnie Gèdre, claiming Lipowitz ignored his request for a lead out in the closing kilometre.

“I asked for a lead out and didn’t get one,” Evenepoel told Sporza. “Yes, I was angry, and rightly so.”

The Belgian pointed to the support he had previously given Lipowitz at the Volta a Catalunya and said the pair would need to discuss the incident later that evening.

That conversation has now taken place, according to Denk, who rejected any suggestion that the episode had exposed a deeper leadership struggle within Red Bull.

“There was a bit of disagreement and a language barrier, but it also happened in the heat of the moment,” Denk said on the Inside Red Bull-Bora- Hansgrohe podcast.

“This was after more than 180 kilometres of a mountain stage. It was not a big thing. I saw them afterwards and they had spoken about it. They sat together at dinner and were laughing. The subject is being made much bigger than it really was.”

The public disagreement inevitably revived questions about Red Bull’s decision to begin the Tour with two general classification leaders.

Evenepoel joined the German team during the winter with the objective of improving on his third place at the 2024 Tour. Lipowitz, meanwhile, arrived at this year’s race having finished third overall in 2025.

After stage 6, Evenepoel sits fourth overall, 3:30 behind Pogačar and just three seconds outside the podium. Lipowitz is seventh, 30 seconds behind his teammate.

Despite the narrow gap between the two riders, Denk said Red Bull would not change its approach or establish a clear hierarchy as a result of one difficult stage.

“We will approach it exactly as we did before today’s stage. Nothing changes. At the moment, there is no reason to deviate from the plan in any way.”

Denk was also encouraged that Red Bull had placed both its leaders inside the main group of general classification contenders, even if neither could match Pogačar.

“The result was very honest,” Denk said. “Pogacar was the best, Vingegaard was the second best and then the group with Remco and Florian arrived.

“For us, it is a good result. We are happy to have two riders up there. Between second and ninth place there are only around two minutes.”

Pogačar’s superiority has already forced Red Bull to take a realistic view of the yellow jersey. Denk conceded that defeating the Slovenian would be extremely difficult unless he suffers illness, a major error or another setback.

He was less willing, however, to concede second place to Vingegaard.

Although Lipowitz described Pogačar as being in “a league of his own” and identified Vingegaard as the second strongest rider on the day, Denk believes the remaining podium positions are still open.

“Generally speaking, and judging by what we saw today, I don’t currently see Jonas Vingegaard as being much better than Florian Lipowitz or Paul Seixas,” he said. “If nothing happens at the very front, second and third place will be decided between seven riders. Nothing has been decided yet.”

Red Bull has two of those seven contenders. For now, Denk’s message is that they remain teammates rather than rivals.

Evenepoel’s anger at the finish was real, but so too, according to the team manager, was the reconciliation over dinner.