Lipowitz himself framed it as a diagnostic, not a comeback: he wants to see how his body handles racing again before anyone talks about what's still possible this season. That leaves roughly two and a half weeks to decide on the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montreal on September 27 — a race that looks very different now that Tadej Pogačar's participation is in doubt after his Vuelta a España injury. Nobody is rushing Lipowitz back for the fifth-place overall spot he held before crashing out of the Tour; the calculation is whether a rider who was podium-close before the crash can be ready for a Worlds field missing its two-time defending champion.