Lipowitz is making Pogačar suffer in Romandie – and raising leadership questions for his team

Cor Vos

Florian Lipowitz is having a very good year. After consistently good performances in Portugal and Spain, the 25-year-old German is finishing his first racing block at the Tour de Romandie where he’s come face to face with Tadej Pogačar for the first time since the 2025 Canadian Classics, and before that, the Tour de France.

Eight months after finishing third behind Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard at his first Tour, Lipowitz has proven the only rider able to follow the all-conquering world champion at the Tour de Romandie, and even put him under pressure in the Swiss mountains.

On stage 4 of the Tour de Romandie, Pogačar – already leading the race off the back of two stage wins earlier in the week – attacked the group of favourites a little over three kilometres from the summit of the Jaunpass (8.1 km at 8.3%), with 20 km remaining of the stage. The on-form Lenny Martinez was able to react quickly, but faded when Pogačar accelerated again, just as Lipowitz steadily paced himself up onto the Slovenian’s coattails.

Lipowitz was then dropped in the last kilometre of the climb, but with the rest of the contenders shedding buckets of time, he had already won a moral victory. He was second best to Pogačar on the climbs, a distinction only otherwise claimed this season by teenage phenom Paul Seixas.

Lipowitz latched onto Pogačar and held on for a couple kilometres on the last climb of stage 4 at the Tour de Romandie.

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