Christophe Laporte: "Jumbo-Visma is the standard for cycling teams"

Christophe Laporte is one of the riders Jumbo-Visma brought into the team for 2022, and has been an incredibly successful transfer as, despite having a supportive role, he has gone on to take the best results of his career by far.

Asked if his recent win at the Tour de France, where he attacked the peloton in the closing kilometers to take an impressive win in Cahors, was the best of his career, he responded: “I would like to say 'yes', but I will also not forget my stage victory in Paris-Nice earlier this year. It is difficult to choose between those two victories. But the Tour remains the Tour, so this victory is the best day of my career".

After turning pro in 2014 with Cofidis, Laporte became over the years a leader even when the team stepped up to World Tour level in 2020. He was a frequent winner in the French calendar and a consistent figure in the sprints and classics-like races over the calendar, but has taken a step up this year with the Dutch team, having taken two stage wins at World Tour level, besides a second place at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and Gent-Wevelgem - alongside a ninth spot at Paris-Roubaix.

“My transfer to this team contributed 100% to this victory. We work a lot before competitions. We prepared ourselves at altitude for the Tour for two months, including a week of Critérium du Dauphiné," he explained. "I've only been home for a few days. A lot has changed in my preparation compared to Cofidis. Think of food, material and the excellent qualities of all our riders.”

All that extra work and attention to detail at Jumbo-Visma saw him on a stronger level, combining that with a strong and motivated team all year long as resulted in the Frenchman having his opportunities aswell.

"Jumbo-Visma is the standard for cycling teams all over the world. Thanks to them I have so much confidence in myself, I've never experienced anything like this before," he told Wielerflits.