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Florian Lipowitz is the new German GC hope discussion thread

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Splitting hairs here but I think the skiing is probably more than half of the formula for success in biathlon. But the point is that it's not cycling any more than Zwift is, and we've seen how much difficulty Zwift stars face when plying their trade in meatspace.
Doesnt really matter but I would expect an elite Nordic skier to have coordination, reaction time, and core strength that would easily transferable to bike handling—and many ride for summer training.
 
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Yet his opponents are not exactly pannenkoeks as Wout Poels would say and especially the few Giro riders were nowhere. I think the way more important circumstance was how hard the pace on the stage was because I don‘t think he can drop a watt bomb and follow everyone on an Unipuerto stage.
This, it was raced a lot like the breakaway usually does. Highest wattages on the first climb of the day.
 
Splitting hairs here but I think the skiing is probably more than half of the formula for success in biathlon. But the point is that it's not cycling any more than Zwift is
Disagree. Road cycling, particularly riding for GC is all about your aerobic engine and watts per kilo. As we know from various VO2 max records cross country skiing places unrivalled demands upon aerobic ability - more than running, swimming or cycling alone because it employs more muscle mass in an aerobic endurance situation.
 
I first noticed him during TotA 2021 when riding for Tirol.
Took some time to develop him properly but it's been clear since last summer he was making big steps forward. Denk picking him over Engelhardt doesn't look so absurd now.

And with Martinez being so inconsistent these days he might have a free role at the Giro.
Free role in his first gt with a Dani Martinez who hasn't raced since Tirreno-Adriatico sounds reasonable.
I don't expect the Lipopotamus to ride for gc in his first gt.
 
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Bora has always seemed hyped about this kid, which, together with the announcement of his renewal alongside a leader without waiting for the domestiques turn made me think that he must be giving very good data in training. Obviously I was not expecting something like that, but these kinds of things are not coincidental. I remember Vingegaard being hyped with similar results in 2019 to this one in 2023 and also being renewed soon during the pandemic.
It's not that I'm saying that he has tha hidden potential of course, but I mean that these types of details always show that your team's staff considers that you are much better than your results show.

As for yesterday performance, even is a bit underrated I would say, stage with of a lot of accumulated fatigue and on top of that he was somewhat slowing down for the Vlasov situation in the final and still was on par with Carlos (very good in these kind of stages) and a Carapaz at a serious level.

Many times these types of things say much more than being the typical talent that always remains between fifth and tenth without breaking it.
Obviously consistency is key and I have no idea if he can achieve it, but what happened yesterday tells me much more than what I have seen in the mountains from other young cyclists with a lot of hype.
 
I must've missed this news from 4 days ago, but he extended his cotract with Bora. It's not specified for how long though.

Jai Hindley and Florian Lipowitz - two riders who have much in common but are at different stages of their careers. Both are climbers and GC riders currently racing for BORA – hansgrohe at the Tour de Romandie. While one already has major Grand Tour trophies at home, the other is just about to make his Grand Tour debut.
 
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I must've missed this news from 4 days ago, but he extended his cotract with Bora. It's not specified for how long though.

Jai Hindley and Florian Lipowitz - two riders who have much in common but are at different stages of their careers. Both are climbers and GC riders currently racing for BORA – hansgrohe at the Tour de Romandie. While one already has major Grand Tour trophies at home, the other is just about to make his Grand Tour debut.
That's a bit harsh: they are 4 years apart in age. Hindley, at 27, is scarcely a veteran.
 
Disagree. Road cycling, particularly riding for GC is all about your aerobic engine and watts per kilo. As we know from various VO2 max records cross country skiing places unrivalled demands upon aerobic ability - more than running, swimming or cycling alone because it employs more muscle mass in an aerobic endurance situation.
I can't even tell what you're disagreeing with
 
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Since Martinez the presumed leader for Bora at the Giro hasn't raced for almost 2 months when the Giro starts I wouldn't be surprised if Lipo turned out to be their best performer in the race. Then again this is Lipos first GT so who knows how well he handles racing non-stop for that long so thinking that he might grab a top 10 spot is perhaps wishing for too much but it's not like people haven't done it before in the same situation.
 
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Since Martinez the presumed leader for Bora at the Giro hasn't raced for almost 2 months when the Giro starts I wouldn't be surprised if Lipo turned out to be their best performer in the race. Then again this is Lipos first GT so who knows how well he handles racing non-stop for that long so thinking that he might grab a top 10 spot is perhaps wishing for too much but it's not like people haven't done it before in the same situation.
Honestly, from what we've seen this week, it could go both ways. His TT wasn't special, but not terrible, he was good on Les Marecottes but got dropped out of the wheel by Plapp in the end. Yet on Leysin, which was the hardest stage, he was quite the revelation. Hard to predict but it wouldn't surprise me.
 
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Honestly, from what we've seen this week, it could go both ways. His TT wasn't special, but not terrible, he was good on Les Marecottes but got dropped out of the wheel by Plapp in the end. Yet on Leysin, which was the hardest stage, he was quite the revelation. Hard to predict but it wouldn't surprise me.
More of a climber than a rouleur, that's why a big engine like Plapp was able to drop him on the uphill false flat.
 
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