‘They even sat together at dinner’ – Red Bull downplay internal tension between Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz at Tour de France

After Remco Evenepoel lashed out at teammate Florian Lipowitz, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have downplayed any suggestions of an internal rivalry forming between their two co-leaders at the Tour de France.

Evenepoel’s anger was revealed after stage 6 of the Tour, when he told Flemish media that the German had refused to give him a lead-out into Gavarnie-Gèdre, as they fought and lost out on third place and the bonus seconds to Isaac del Toro.

“Yes, there was a bit of disagreement, a language barrier, but also in the heat of the moment, that was after over 180km of mountain stage, but it was no big deal,” said Denk, debriefing the day’s action on the team’s Inside Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe – Tour de France podcast.

“I saw it earlier, the two guys talked about it, so there is really nothing major, and they even sat together at dinner and laughed, so the topic is being made out to be bigger than it actually was.”

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!

Despite the drama, the Red Bull duo do sit in a strong position after the first mountain stage and six days of tough racing, with Evenepoel in fourth overall and Lipowitz 30 seconds further back in seventh.

While well back from overall leader and stage 6 winner Tadej Pogačar, at 3:30 and 4:00 behind, respectively, Evenepoel and Lipowitz are well in the fight to match their previous bests from the Tour, third, and aren’t too far down on Jonas Vingegaard in second.

The world’s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France. From Barcelona through to Paris, our experienced team will bring you breaking news, expert insight, and in-depth coverage from every stage as the battle for the yellow jersey plays out. Plus, access the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.