Tour crash leaves Lipowitz short of form for Worlds

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe climber is part of the German team for a demanding 273.4 kilometre race around Mont Royal, yet his preparation could hardly have been further from ideal. Just two months ago, his Tour de France came to a painful end when a crash in the stage 16 individual time trial left him with a broken collarbone.

Since returning to competition, Lipowitz has completed only three races, finishing 78th at the Giro della Toscana, 50th at the Memorial Pantani and 69th at the Trofeo Matteotti. That limited build up has left the 26-year-old realistic about what he can expect in Montréal.

“I’m definitely not back in top form yet,” Lipowitz told SID ahead of the race. “There’s simply still too much missing.”

Lipowitz was fifth overall at the Tour and firmly in the fight for a top finish when his season was interrupted. After surgery, the focus shifted to recovery and getting enough racing into his legs before the World Championships.

“Of course, it was a tough road to get back into shape,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy time after the crash.”

The bigger question now is how his body responds once the race enters its final hours. Lipowitz has had little opportunity to rebuild the endurance normally required for a World Championship of this length.

“It depends on who still has enough energy in the final hour to follow the moves or shape the race themselves,” he said.

For Lipowitz, that endurance is also the main uncertainty. His three Italian races gave him some competition after nearly two months away, but none came close to the distance he will face in Montreal.

“For me, of course, it was difficult in such a short period of time to build the kind of base you need to last for that long,” he said.

The German arrived at the Tour in strong form after another consistent first half of the season. He finished third at the Volta a Catalunya, second at both Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie, before winning the Tour of Slovenia in June.

Those results followed his breakthrough third place at the 2025 Tour de France and underlined his progress as a Grand Tour rider.

His record in one-day races remains relatively limited. Lipowitz finished 28th in his only previous elite World Championship road race in 2024, while his best result from that autumn campaign was 20th at the Giro dell’Emilia. A year later, his only previous appearances in Canada ended without a finish at both the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.

This time, he enters another one-day race with even fewer reference points, and when it came to his chances on Sunday, Lipowitz returned to the same point.

“It’s obvious that I’m not yet in a position to ride a super strong race,” he said. “But nevertheless, I’m happy to be here.”