Season goals Liane Lippert: This is what the German wants to achieve in 2026

The big dreams burst in front of a stable backdrop of natural stone houses in Brittany. Marlen Reusser crashed and gave up a little later. Perdü was the hope that the Swiss rider could climb onto the podium at the Tour de France. Not only were Reusser's goals shattered on the Breton tarmac, but her team Movistar also had to reorganise itself. And now the performance and form, luck or misfortune of Marlen Reusser also play a major role for Liane Lippert. The 28-year-old cyclist, who comes from Friedrichshafen but, like many professional cyclists, now lives in Andorra, is not only a team-mate but also something of a noble helper to the Swiss rider. Much will also depend on how Reusser performs in the new season. The time trial world champion and runner-up in the Giro d'Italia is the leader of the Spanish racing team. "The big difference is being in the team with Marlen and really going for the GC (overall classification)," says Lippert, describing the most noticeable change in her role at Team Movistar since last year.

>> Interview with Marlen Reusser

>> On a ski tour with professional cyclist Antonia Niedermaier

>> Liane Lippert extends contract with Team Movistar

A season to forget

The day after Reusser's retirement came Lippert's hour. She sprinted to fourth place on stage 2, and 24 hours later to fifth place again. The captain's retirement brought freedom for Lippert. This will also be the case in the 2026 season. At the beginning of the year, Lippert emphasised in an interview with TOUR that she was happy to be back on the bike. Because last year, not only Reusser but also Lippert was plagued by malaise. After a strong start to the season with third place at the Tour of Flanders ("That was the first highlight," says Lippert) and two stage wins at the Giro d'Italia, she experienced a season finale that she would soon like to forget. She already felt tired at the Tour, which started shortly after the Giro last year. "After that, things actually went downhill for me," recalls Lippert, "I got really sick: before the World Championships, during the World Championships, after the World Championships." A flu infection beforehand, gastroenteritis in Rwanda and then even a brief hospitalisation due to suspected kidney stones. "My immune system was in such a mess," she reports. But that's in the past. At the start of the year, she says: "I feel fully healthy again, I'm back in full training." She still has time. She doesn't want to reach top form until March and April: "My big goals are definitely the classics." It starts with the Strade Bianche. At the Tour of Flanders, where she will start with the recommendation of third place from 2025, she would like to form a dangerous double lead with Reusser. Then come the three Ardennes Classics. "The Amstel Gold Race is a race that suits me well," she emphasises. Last year, a breakaway group got away from the favourites and Lippert was no longer able to get involved in the battle for the top positions. She finished fifth in last year's Flèche Wallonne - probably her personal best in the uphill sprint to the finish on the wall of Huy, as she says. And the classics finale at Liège-Bastogne-Liège will probably be reserved for Reusser as captain, who likes long mountains better than Lippert.

Noble helper for Reusser at the Vuelta and Tour

The alternating role play will then continue from May onwards in the big stage races. Reusser is aiming for overall victory in the Tour of Spain at the beginning of May, while Lippert is hoping for freedom at her side. She would like to win a stage in Spain to complete the triple of stage wins in all three major national tours. She has already won stages in the Giro and Tour. Things should get better for Reusser - after finishing second at the Vuelta 2025 and also second at the Giro. She only lost the pink jersey after being weakened by illness. Lippert is skipping the Giro this time. She is focussing on preparing for the Tour de France - the main goal of the season alongside the Vuelta, which is particularly important for her Spanish team. To this end, Lippert wants to improve on the long mountains in order to be at Reusser's side for as long as possible. The strong Colombian climber Paula Patino has left the team and Lippert will probably have to step in. Lippert is unlikely to be able to pursue his own ambitions in the Tour. "We'll give everything for the GC," predicts Lippert - and therefore everything for team-mate Reusser and her ambitions in the overall classification. It will be a balancing act, because although Lippert wants to become more "mountain-proof", she doesn't want to lose her explosiveness, her punch and her sprinting ability - which are quite contradictory skills in cycling.

World Championship medal with a strong German team?

The World Championships at the end of the season in September could be a highlight for German cycling fans. "We have a super-strong team," enthuses Lippert. So far, she has been chasing a World Championship medal in the road race, narrowly missing out on bronze twice as fourth in Australia in 2022 and most recently in Zurich in 2024. "I really want to do well again at the World Championships after last year," she emphasises. The challenging course in Montreal, with 2,400 metres of climbing over 180 kilometres, could play into her hands, especially in combination with teammates Antonia Niedermaier, who recently came sixth in Rwanda and is currently probably Germany's best climber, and German champion and World Championship twelfth-placed Franziska Koch, who, like Lippert, likes short, crisp climbs. "I believe that we can win a medal as a team," says Lippert.

Start of the Mallorca Challenge

She will start the year at the Mallorca Challenge, where she will compete in two of the three possible one-day races from 24 January - the two hilly ones, but will not start on the flat course around Palma. "We'll take that as training," says Lippert.