Christophe Laporte: "The green jersey is not a goal"

With Wout van Aert opting not to chase green and Jumbo-Visma racing the Tour de France with a plethora of rouleurs, it could be argued that after a brilliant Criterium du Dauphiné, Christophe Laporte could aim for the green jersey. However, that possibility seems to not be in the head of the Frenchman, who dismisses it.

"I am here to work for the team and not to pursue my own ambitions. The goal is to support Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingaard in everything they do and everything they aim for. there is an opportunity later in the Tour, so maybe I can try my luck, but it will certainly not be the case in the first days," Christophe Laporte admits to Het Nieuwsblad.

A quality sprinter, Laporte won a stage at the Tour last year, and finished second in the World Championships - among many other high-level results. Besides winning Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen this spring, the Jumbo-Visma rider recently won two sprint stages at the Dauphiné, in one of them beating Sam Bennett and Dylan Groenewegen.

With the immense depth of the Dutch team at the Tour, it could become viable that he'd be given the freedom, but yesterday his response was clear: "I can be clear on the subject: the green jersey is not a goal." Hence, Jumbo-Visma remain focused on the single goal of winning the Tour de France with Jonas Vingegaard, whilst Van Aert - and possibly other riders throughout the race - will get freedom to go for specific stages.