Christophe Laporte: "Mathieu and Wout are above the rest in the great classics, but the others, I am capable of beating them"

Christophe Laporte does not need too much racing to show off his best form; the European Champion starts his 2024 season this Saturday at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and has clear ambitions of taking a big win this spring alongside Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

"I don't have a preparation race. There, we get straight to the heart of the matter about the Classics, all the races are objectives for me and for the team," Laporte said in words to L'Équipe. "I did three weeks of training at altitude in Tenerife for these races. It’s the most important period for me. I won a stage on the Tour, then a classic. The only step forward I can take is a Monument."

The 31-year old showed an incredibly high level once again in 2023 and looks to continue on the same page next season. He will not race stage-races this spring, instead will race: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne, Strade Bianche; Milano-Sanremo, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. All are races where he can take a win.

“Mathieu and Wout are above the rest in the great classics, but the others, I am capable of beating them," Laporte is confident of. "I have already done it. A Monument, that remains the most important thing harder to win. Am I capable of doing it or not? I don't know. On a Roubaix, I have no doubt. At the Tour of Flanders, it is perhaps a little more difficult but physically feasible, depending on the racing circumstances."

This spring will have another set of opportunities, and the Dutch team is stronger than ever ahead of it. "I don't give myself a limit, I don't know when it will stop, I'm in my best years, even if there will inevitably be less good seasons. The next three, four years are where I'm going to make my lifetime achievements, important years, and I think I'm in the perfect team for that," the French rider believes.

"I'm very motivated to make all the sacrifices that the quest for success requires. results. Three years ago, if someone had told me that I would be here today, I probably wouldn't have believed it, and I might say the same thing in two years. So winning Roubaix , it's a dream and I will believe in it until the end of my career."