Critérium du Dauphiné: “I will try to do justice to this yellow jersey”, launches Christophe Laporte

2023-06-04 18:35:21

By winning the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné, Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) can now boast of having achieved success in the three biggest French stage races (Tour de France, Paris-Nice and Dauphiné). It is also his third success this season in just nine days of racing (after Ghent-Wevelgem and A Travers la Flandre). The Varois won ahead of the Italian Matteo Trentin (UAE) and the Belgian Rune Herregodts (Intermarchés-Wanty) caught by the peloton ten meters from the line. Laporte also takes the yellow jersey, as in Paris-Nice 2023.

Tell us about this victory…

Christopher Laporte. It was really limited, with the rain, on the descent, Herregodts regained some time, while we were going quickly behind and we imagined coming back faster. We had him in our sights but you never really know. Three kilometers away, I was no longer sure of anything. The whole team went all out to play for the win. Even Jonas (Editor’s note: Vingegaard) did the job up to 300m from the line. On paper it was a stage for me today, with good bumps but not too steep. I knew that if I felt good, I had a good chance.

Is it still rewarding to see that even a Tour winner is working for you?

It’s always satisfying when a runner like that helps you out. It’s even nice to see Jonas doing that, and even taking risks by rubbing shoulders with the peloton. This also allows us to take marks together before the Tour. We are almost all there except Wout (Editor’s note: van Aert) who is in the Tour de Suisse. Let’s say it’s an interesting little repetition. We also had a good training camp even if the weather was not great. Anyway, all is well.

How long do you hope to keep this jersey?

I don’t know. We will see with the team. But I’m not the priority to keep the yellow jersey here and that’s normal. Other teams will want to play the sprint but we are not going to go to the plank to play one absolutely. Here, we must think especially of Jonas. It’s always an honor to wear this beautiful yellow jersey and I will try to do it justice.

What form are you in?

I hope I’m in better shape than last year, especially in the bumps. I had to improve in this area. Last year, I was fine but nothing more.

How does it feel to win when you’re the favorite of the day?

Upstream, there is a little more pressure because I know that people are riding for me. I like this pressure. It’s not huge because what matters is to try. Today it worked.