German cyclist Florian Lipowitz, one of the most prominent cycling stars, suffered a broken collarbone due to his fall during the 16th stage of the Tour de France, threatening his current season.

Lipowitz, who finished last year's edition in 3rd place, was in 5th place overall before the start of the individual time trial on Tuesday, but a violent fall while riding at high speed forced him to withdraw from the race due to the injury, as confirmed by his team Red Bull.

The German cyclist will be away from competition for no less than six weeks, meaning it is impossible for him to participate in the Vuelta a España, scheduled between August 22 and September 13, and his participation in the World Championships in Montreal, Canada, scheduled between September 20 and 27, also seems unlikely.

In contrast, he might be able to return for one-day races held in Italy at the end of the season, such as the Tour of Lombardy, which starts on October 10.

Tuesday saw mixed emotions within the team, as his Belgian teammate Remco Evenepoel won the stage, cutting the gap to Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the overall leader, to 4 minutes and 32 seconds, noting that the race concludes next Sunday.

Ralph Denk, director of Red Bull team, said: 'We will miss Florian not only in the competition for the podium, but we will also miss him as a person within the team. It's true that we won the stage, but one cannot say that things are great for us. I also feel sorry for Remco because he cannot enjoy this achievement in an atmosphere of calm and full joy.'