Germany is looking for the Tour winner and is hoping for a former biathlete

Thirty-one future Olympic champions have graduated from the Stams Ski High School in Tyrol. In addition, the athletic training school boasts 100 world championship titles and countless medals at major events – all of which were won by former students during the winter. It was never foreseen that a former pupil would one day be among the frontrunners in the Tour de France.

The story of 24-year-old professional cyclist Florian Lipowitz begins with a phone call. In 2020, the young German dialed the number of Ralph Denk, team principal of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. In the podcast "Tourfunk," Denk says: "My assistant said there was someone on the phone who wanted to become a professional cyclist. And I thought to myself: 'Put him through, I'll listen to him.'" Denk listened to the story and was impressed. Thus began Lipowitz's transformation from biathlete to racing cyclist.

Lipowitz comes from the small town of Laichringen in the Swabian Alb, a region perfect for winter sports. He became a biathlete, German junior champion, and the family moved to Stams so that his son could pursue a path to the world's elite via a ski school.

But a torn cruciate ligament changes everything. The injury now only allows him to train on a bike. The longer he trains, the more he enjoys it. In 2019, Lipowitz wins the Engadin Cycle Marathon – 220 kilometers, four Alpine passes, and 4,000 meters of elevation gain. After that, he no longer sees a future in biathlon.

After calling Denk, the two arrange to meet for lunch. It's winter, but Lipowitz arrives by bike. Denk wants to know where he's from. Lipowitz replies: "From school." It's 100 kilometers away, and team boss Denk is astonished. Today he says: "That was an initial indicator for me. If the will is there, that's already a very good thing." The two talk for over two hours, making plans for the future. Then Lipowitz gets back on his bike and rides the 100 kilometers back home. Denk initially places him with a small team from Austria. He has been riding for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe since 2023.

Five years later in Narbonne, on the second rest day of the Tour de France: Suddenly, Lipowitz is in the spotlight. It wasn't planned. After last year's Vuelta, he was competing in only his second Grand Tour. He was supposed to learn and gain experience alongside veteran Primoz Roglic. The 35-year-old has won the Vuelta four times, the Giro d'Italia once, and is an Olympic time trial champion. Lipowitz, on the other hand, was known only to insiders last year; now he's third in the overall standings – behind the greats Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard .

He also now wears the white jersey of the best young rider, after two-time Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel abandoned the Tour . Lipowitz held his own during the tough Pyrenees stages of the second week. He says: "I never thought about the overall classification or even the podium." His goal is still to even reach Paris.

Simply arriving in Paris? The German sports audience sees things differently. Their enthusiasm is notoriously easily ignited. When German athletes succeed in biathlon, everyone watches, and the same applies to ski jumping. And the same was true of the Tour de France when Jan Ullrich triumphed in 1997. Suddenly, it felt like the entire country was watching television during every stage.

Ullrich was later convicted of doping, as was Andreas Klöden, who in 2006 was the last German to reach the Tour podium. The scandals turned the German public away from the Tour. Public broadcasters stopped showing the Tour de France live for years because of the doping scandal.

Today, that's unthinkable. Germany believes it has finally found a general classification rider in Lipowitz and is hoping for a second Tour victory – thanks to Lipowitz in the near future. The tabloids are already calling him "Super Lipo" or "Daredevil" and reporting on every little thing. A harmless crash causes a stir, and a visit to his girlfriend on a rest day becomes a news story.

But his meteoric rise raises questions, especially in cycling with its doping past. Lipowitz says those days are over. "I've already been tested five times at this Tour de France. I'm clean and I want to be at peace with myself." He attributes his performance leap to new approaches, which the sports scientists at Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe consider particularly innovative: For the first time, Lipowitz is working with a nutrition coach, and he's also stayed healthy and has been able to train more than in previous years.

On his day off, Lipowitz seems unsure what to make of the big picture. He's considered an introvert, a fact he himself acknowledges: "I guess I just have to get through the hype. I try not to let it drive me crazy," he says.

Some in Germany, however, already believe he's on par with Jonas Vingegaard, the current overall runner-up and two-time Tour de France winner. Lipowitz tempers expectations, saying: "Vingegaard is far behind. That's true even if he's having a bad day and I'm having a good one."

Nevertheless, he says he'll try to launch one or two attacks in the final week – if his legs allow it. "I want to enjoy the race and not put any pressure on myself," he says. He's also respectful of last week's grueling Alpine stages. He doesn't yet know all the climbs he'll have to tackle, says Lipowitz: "That's perhaps a good thing, not knowing exactly what to expect."

His sporting director, Rolf Aldag, is also tempering expectations. Lipowitz will continue to share the captaincy with Roglic, Aldag says. Roglic is currently sixth in the overall standings, almost three minutes behind Lipowitz. "We have two trump cards, one of which we want to bring to the podium in Paris," says Aldag.

Lipowitz says he wouldn't mind if Roglic were on the podium in Paris instead of him. "We're a team," he says, putting on a poker face. He's already learned that during the first two weeks of the Tour; he won't let himself be provoked. But perhaps Lipowitz simply knows that his time will come.

Or as his discoverer and team boss Denk puts it: "It's much nicer to see a driver grow than to hire a seasoned professional for a lot of money."