Three of these stars are currently in the top 5 of the Tour’s GC standings and the fourth is wearing the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey. There are three enormous mountain stages left to ride, so it is possible that things may change, especially in the King of the Mountains race. But based on their performances so far, this new generation of cyclists will provide racing aficionados with at least six more years of exciting Tour de France racing.
Out of Roglič’s shadow
The most impressive of the four riders, Florian Lipowitz, is also the oldest at 24. For the past two years, he toiled in the service of his Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe leader, Primož Roglič, who joined the team in 2024 in his quest to finally win a Tour de France.
Lipowitz first came to my attention in last year’s Tour de Romandie, in which he rode in support of another Red Bull veteran, Aleksandr Vlasov. But a funny thing happened on stage 4 of that race, which ended with a hard climb (13.8 km @ 6%) to a summit finish at Leysin. Looking stronger than Vlasov on the ascent, Lipowitz was apparently permitted to ride for himself and finished second, with the same time as the winner, Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost). In that stage, he not only outclimbed Vlasov, but also Enric Mas (Movistar), Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates–XRG). He eventually finished third in that GC, 9 seconds behind the winner, Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers), and only 2 seconds behind Vlasov.
Lipowitz had a mixed 2024. He abandoned the Giro due to illness, but finished seventh in the Vuelta a España while helping Roglič win his fourth Vuelta. But he has found a new level this year, finishing second in Paris-Nice to Matteo Jorgenson (Visma–Lease a Bike) and third in the Critérium du Dauphiné, behind Pogačar and Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard, but ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), Jorgenson and Mas. And riding in his first Tour de France, he is now on the verge of a podium finish and winning the white jersey for best young rider.
Lipowitz came into his own on stage 12 of this Tour, on the climb to the finish on top of the Hautacam, when he literally rode out of Roglič’s shadow and finished third in the stage, just 13 seconds behind Vingegaard. No one was happier for him than Roglič, who said: “Lipo had the legs today, so it was a great job from him. When you have the legs, you have to go. I’m really happy and hope he can continue with his level here.” Those were the words of a champion passing the baton.
Lipowitz rode two excellent time trials in this Tour, finishing sixth and fourth, and he finished third, fourth, and fifth in the big Pyrenean mountain stages. Climbing on the big mountains, he appears to be struggling, but that’s just how he rides. He has a strong cruising speed and knows how to pace himself. At 1.81 m and 68 kg, he may be too big to ever win a Tour de France, but in view of how much he has improved in one year, it’s unwise to ever write him off. A golden future looks in store for this young German riding for a prosperous German team.
Bardet’s precocious protégé comes up in the world
When Romain Bardet announced that he would be retiring this year after the Critérium du Dauphiné, and therefore before the Tour de France, one of the reasons might have been his 22-year-old protégé, Oscar Onley. The main reason was probably that Bardet, at 34 and after riding in 11 editions of the race, didn’t want to put himself through that ordeal again. But it was also because Onley was ready to become Picnic PostNL’s new GC leader.
Boy, was he ever ready. This year, he finished fourth in the Tour Down Under, fifth in the UAE Tour, and third in the Tour de Suisse. The young Briton now sits fourth in the Tour GC, 9:18 behind Pogačar but only 1:25 adrift of Lipowitz. If the German falters, Onley could still make it a dream finish in his second Tour. His first experience in the Tour, last year, was mostly a learning experience, though it featured a promising fifth-place finish on the mountainous stage 17. The year before that, he began his Grand Tour career with a victory in the stage 1 team time trial of the Vuelta. However, Onley crashed on stage 2 and abandoned the race.
That his team named him to become its GC leader in the greatest bike race in the world at age 22 tells you all you need to know about how much confidence its sport directors have in his ability. And the proof is in his results. In this Tour, he has finished fourth on stage 4, third on stage 7, and fifth, sixth and seventh, always behind Lipowitz, in the Pyrenean mountain stages. Onley is definitely a future star of the sport and almost certainly a Tour winner after Pogačar and Vingegaard retire.
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He makes French hearts beat faster
Kévin Vauquelin appears to be on a mission, to save his Arkéa–B&B Hotels team from bankruptcy. With its sponsors dropping out at the end of this year, the team has been casting about for fresh funds to remain in existence. No one has drawn more attention to its plight than the 24-year-old native of Bayeux, France. He first rode himself into prominence on stage 1 of last year’s Tour, when he unleashed a powerful 16 km solo breakaway to take his and his team’s first ever Tour stage win.
This year, in the hunt for vital points for his team, he won two second-level races, the Tour du Gard and the Région Pays de la Loire Tour, finished a very impressive second to Pogačar, and ahead of Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), in La Flèche Wallonne and finished second in the Tour de Suisse, just in front of Onley. That is an impressive Palmares. He currently sits fifth in the Tour, at 10:21, and 1:03 behind Onley. But Vauquelin is more of a one-day racer than a pure climber, like Lipowitz or Onley, and it is unlikely that he will be able to keep his place in the GC as the Tour reaches its climbing climax in the next stages.
However, what has characterised his performances is his never-say-die spirit, which saw him claw back time when dropped on difficult climbs. Vauquelin just never gives up. The French love that attitude, and he has become the new darling of French racing. But how will the French feel if his team is disbanded at the end of the year and he signs with a non-French team, as is inevitable? Because you can be sure that other teams have taken note of his strength and his style, and will come knocking on his door with bundles of cash. Vauquelin will never win a Tour de France, but he will definitely light up future editions of the race for years to come, no matter who he rides for.
The new French hope
When Lenny Martinez moved from the French team Groupama-FDJ to Bahrain-Victorious this year, he was criticised by parts of the French public and the press for abandoning his country. But his results have proven the wisdom of his decision. Under the tutelage of one of the great cycling coaches of the century, Rod Ellingworth, one of the primary architects of the success of Team Sky, the 22-year-old native of Cannes is on the verge of stardom.
We have already written at length about Martinez in these pages. However, it is important to repeat that France has not won its sporting crown jewel since 1985, when the great Bernard Hinault won the last of his five Tour victories. Apparently, Ellingworth and the Bahrain staff think Martinez has the stuff to end that drought. But it won’t be this year. Martinez made it clear that he wasn’t going for GC glory when he did not compete in the early stages. Trailing the GC contenders by over an hour after stage 9 meant that he would be allowed to join breakaways in search of his real goal, the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey.
He currently leads that competition by a scant 8 points, 60 to 52, over Pogačar and will continue to hunt for more points on the intermediate climbs in the coming stages, since the final mountains of these stages will mostly be contested by the GC contenders. As he put it, “My biggest dream is to bring the polka-dot jersey back to Paris. I have an eight-point lead, which isn’t much, and I think Pogačar will win quite a few more stages, so I’ll need to score points in the breakaways.”
Martinez is an excellent climber, though not yet of the calibre of the Tour favourites. But he may eventually reach that level. At 1.68 m and 52 kg, he has the perfect body to be a top climber. And as his victory over UAE’s João Almeida on a summit finish in this year’s Tour de Romandie illustrated, he has the legs and the smarts to beat the best. It’s early days yet in his career, but the French – whose hopes have been crushed so often over the years – may yet see Martinez answer their 40-year-old prayers.
