Christophe Laporte hopeful of home advantage in Paris - "There are plenty of rivals, it would be difficult to name them all"
Cycling
Christophe Laporte is the leader of the French team in Paris however one of the many cards the home team has to play for in the men's elite road race. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider showed tremendous form during the Tour de France and comes in as one of the big favourites for the gold medal, but is aware that there are many contenders for the title this afternoon.
"I'm in good shape, I felt very good on the Tour de France and I've recovered well. I expect a lot from this race, like all the big races I take part in," Laporte said ahead of the race. "I didn't have my best start to the season, but I've always had good feelings when I needed to. I had a few problems, but they've been behind me for several weeks now." The Frenchman was largely absent from the spring classics due to illness which hampered his season without a doubt, but he continues to wear the European Champion's jersey he conquered last year in Drenthe.
An experienced and strong classics rider, he is a strong rouleur who can climb very well and also packs a very strong sprint - specially in such long races. He was, to note, second behind Remco Evenepoel in the Wollongong World Championships. "If I'm here, it's because the course suits me, as it does for my three teammates," he ensures. Julian Alaphilippe, Valentin Madouas and Kévin Vauquelin are strong cards for the French to play for in the hilly finale.
It's a beautiful course, there's going to be a huge crowd, as we've seen in the other races. In the time trial Kevin [Vauquelin] told us it was incredible. We're going to feed off that and have fun," he says. In the final climbs, the steepness may not be enough for the likes of Mathieu van der Poel to drop the Visma rider who was a key support rider for Jonas Vingegaard at the Grand Boucle.
The favourites: Laporte's answer is quite simplistic. "They are the same favourites as in all the races on the calendar. There are plenty of rivals, it would be difficult to name them all. We are at the Olympic Games, so there are all the world's top names".
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