“I don’t take care of anything, the team takes care of everything” – Liberation

2023-06-30 07:01:00

The man is discreet and he has long remained in the shadow of more media-oriented runners. But, since leaving Cofidis for the Jumbo-Visma armada in 2022, the 30-year-old sprinter-puncher has had a string of prestigious victories. The only Frenchman last year to have won a stage on the Tour, vice-world champion, he again made an excellent start to the season, winning two famous Belgian classics and twice during the Dauphiné. On this Tour, he will once again serve Jonas Vingegaard, the defending champion, in a highly anticipated duel against Tadej Pogacar. During an internship in the Sierra Nevada, in Spain, to prepare for the Grande Boucle, Christophe Laporte returned with Liberation to his transformation, his satisfied need for a framework, his relationship to the distance from his family and his serenity in the face of questions. generated by its successes.

To prepare for the Tour de France, you follow a training course in Sierra Nevada, the Dauphiné criterium and a second training course in Tignes. You spend almost three months with the same runners, away from your family, for a three-week event…

Yes, that’s almost it. Of the three months with the Tour included, we spend ten days at home. But, for example, in Sierra Nevada, in the evening, we have massages, we eat very well, we have a chef who cooks meals for us and that allows us to be 100%. At home, it’s impossible.

Morally, it’s not too hard?

The three weeks in Spain are the most difficult. In general, leaving home, we are used to it. There, it’s really a big block, but we know that we need to go through it: we have the results afterwards, we don’t do it for nothing.

Do we sometimes feel guilty? We tell ourselves that we are not there enough, as a young father?

We all have children or almost, it’s not easy. I have a 3 and a half year old, and I just got one in December, he is 5 months old. The little one is more difficult for the mother. The 3 and a half year old, he’s beginning to understand, he goes to school, he knows it’s a long time, it pains me. But that’s part of the job. The rest of the time, when we’re at home, we can really take care of them. We don’t train for 35 hours, we’re there in the evening, in the morning to take them to school…

Do you still live in the Var, where you grew up?

I live right next to where I grew up. It was important for me to stay close to my loved ones. When you have no choice for practical reasons related to training, it’s interesting to leave, but I have everything. I have my loved ones, my family, my friends, good winter weather and a good playground. I have no reason to change.

You have not run since Paris-Roubaix, in April, before resuming on the Dauphiné. As a competitor, two months without competition, and when you’ve only had sixteen days of racing this season, isn’t that too long?

I like to prepare. When I run too much, I feel less nervous. There, I know that I am impatient to find the competition. When we are there, we are at 120%, we want to give everything. It’s a method of approach that I really like.

With Cofidis, there were more race days?

Yes, it was very different. Here I don’t run before the classics at all [les courses d’un jour les plus prestigieuses, ndlr]. Before, I ran a lot in January, at least ten days. For the Tour too, I often did the Four Days of Dunkirk. The team’s expectations were different.

Do you like the more framed, organized side of the Jumbo more?

I need a frame. When I’m at home, I totally disconnect from the world of cycling. I don’t want to think too much about how I’m going to prepare, what I’m going to have to do, when I’m going to have to leave. From now on, I don’t take care of anything, the team takes care of everything. She offers me a program, they know what they are doing, I have complete confidence and I let myself be guided. I got on the Jumbo train, and it’s fine with me.

Is it some kind of comfort?

Totally. Mental comfort.

Last year, your former Cofidis teammates told us that they weren’t surprised by your success, that you needed such an organization…

I find it difficult to impose things on myself without being sure that it is the right thing to do. Having this framework helps me. With Cofidis, we did, at one point, twelve days of training. My coach told me it would be good to stay longer but, on my own, I didn’t have the mind to do it. I think I had plenty of room for improvement, that’s also why people who know me aren’t surprised. Others will say they are surprised…

It bothers you, the critics since you win?

I see a lot of criticism on the networks of people telling me that I come out of nowhere, but when I read this, I tell myself that these are people who were not following the bike. It doesn’t affect me. Before winning a stage of Paris-Nice with Jumbo, I had been second twice in this same race, so it’s not easy. Jumbo brought me this extra thing which is training, professionalism.

In general, I’m not very fond of the media. I’m straight in my sneakers, I know what I’m doing. There, I answer questions because it is framed by the team, it is the press officer who transmits. I know it’s a fault not to talk too much: for journalists, for people who follow.

Do you feel like you have a new status to assume? With the current generation change, you are perhaps the best Frenchman at the moment?

New status…I think. I was never very far from winning big victories but now that I succeeded, it changes a lot of things. Before winning Ghent-Wevelgem, I had been second but no one cared. The big titles are the victories, especially on the Tour. Afterwards, best Frenchman or not, that doesn’t interest me too much.

What are the three moments that you keep in mind of the Tour, last year?

The victory of Wout (Van Aert), in Calais, when he wore the yellow jersey. We had already discussed this plan in Sierra Nevada, in May. The Granon stage. Same, we had the plan in advance. We did not want to win the Tour but to mark the occasion. And my victory too, in Cahors. And I add a fourth, the Champs-Elysées, of course.

Is it harder to assume to be the defending champion?

There is bound to be more pressure, especially for Jonas [Vingegaard] but the important thing is to be focused. Title holder or not, it will not change the story on D-Day.

Are there stages that interest you individually?

Me, I’m here to help the team as a priority. Afterwards, if opportunities arise, I will try to seize them, but it is often in the third week. I need, it’s true, my moments for me, to have my chance. I can’t team up all year round either.