Overview
- Red Bull–Bora–hansgrohe announced that Florian Lipowitz will return to racing at the Giro della Toscana on Wednesday, September 9, as a controlled comeback and fitness test.
- Lipowitz broke his clavicle in a crash during the Tour de France individual time trial on stage 16 and had surgery, forcing him out for about seven weeks before this planned restart.
- The team has named three short Italian one-day races as immediate options after the Toscana—Coppa Sabatini (10 September), Memorial Marco Pantani (12 September) and Trofeo Matteotti (13 September)—to build race rhythm if his body tolerates competition.
- Lipowitz says any decision to race the Road World Championships in Montreal at the end of September will depend on an honest assessment of his form and a desire not to take a German start spot from a fitter teammate.
- The Montreal course suits climbers and Lipowitz’s late-season choices gain extra weight because he is 25, was third in last year’s Tour de France, and reports that Tadej Pogačar is likely to miss the Worlds could affect medal dynamics.