2023-09-24 17:57:07
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 1 hour ago, Updated 5 minutes ago
Christophe Laporte Jan De Meuleneir / PANORAMIC
The Frenchman produced a magnificent performance by winning the title of European champion this Sunday in the Netherlands.
Christophe Laporte won the road race of the European Cycling Championships on Sunday in the province of Drenthe, in the Netherlands, a first for a French rider in this event created in 2016.
Escaping twelve kilometers from the line, the Varois (30 years old) narrowly resisted the return of the Belgian Wout Van Aert and the Dutch Olav Kooij, his teammates all year within the Jumbo-Visma team, who failed in his wheel to complete the podium.
«It’s going to be a bit crazy to wear this distinctive (European champion) jersey for a year. I don’t realize yet», affirmed the sprinter who “dedicated» his victory to his Belgian teammate at Jumbo-Visma Nathan Van Hooydonck.
The latter was forced to end his career at the age of 29 after suffering a heart attack two weeks ago.
Although the Euro was contested by national teams, the triumph was total for the Jumbo-Visma team, already impressive during the last Tour of Spain won by the American Sepp Kuss in front of his two teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic.
Laporte, who had been at the origin of the formation of a group of ten attackers, showed himself to be the strongest and most daring of these escapees by accelerating alone at the start of the last lap of a very technical circuit .
Despite an impressive effort from Belgian Arnaud De Lie in the last kilometer, Laporte found the resources to resist at the last minute the return of the Van Aert/Kooij/De Lie trio to offer France the first European title in its history. On the list, he succeeds the Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen.
«I didn’t want to arrive in the sprint with a guy like De Lie. Something had to be tried first. I tried and it worked», Commented Laporte after his fifth victory this season. This year, he also won Ghent-Wevelgem, A Travers la Flandre and two stages of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
His friend and teammate at Jumbo-Visma Wout Van Aert was the first to congratulate him once he crossed the line even if it must have been a difficult pill to swallow for the Belgian.
Favorite of the race, Van Aert once again came within a whisker of an international title. On the road, in the Belgian jersey, Van Aert has already reached a podium eight times without ever winning gold, whether at the Worlds, the Euros or the Olympics.
Last August, he had already won silver at the world championships behind the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel.
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