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Riding for Himself TdF25-80
I knew this moment would come eventually. The young Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) had started the day four seconds ahead of his team leader, Primoz Roglic. As the attacks started near the bottom of the Hautacam, Lipowitz stayed with Roglic in hopes that his leader would recover and be able to at least limit his loses on the climb through the screaming fans lining both sides of the narrow road. I can only assume that Roglic and/or their sports director said go! The youngster went hard closing swiftly on the two guys up the road in the final kilometers to the summit. He finished the stage in third place two minutes and twenty-three seconds behind the stage winner, but only thirteen seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard. He now sits fourth on the general classification, just forty-nine seconds off of the podium and the Maillot Blanc. When, I said I knew this would come, he was my pick for stage honors and a member of my Tour de France fantasy team.