"I didn't want to finish my career without trying this change" - How Christophe Laporte's Jumbo-Visma move turned his career upside down
Cycling
Christophe Laporte was no unknown in the world of cycling, however his transfer to Jumbo-Visma in 2022 saw the best of the Frenchman, who despite having a majorly supportive role, has taken great amounts of success in his first year away from France.
"At the start of the year, I didn’t speak English and for sure I didn’t expect all this success but now I'm very happy I joined Jumbo-Visma," Laporte told Cyclingnews and Velonews. "I came to this team to be better. I made a lot more sacrifices, did more training camps away from home, improved my nutrition and lots more. It was a big step up but everything worked out well.”
An experienced sprinter and classics rider, the 30-year old turned pro in 2014 with Cofidis and had become one of it's leaders over the years. His versatility was apparent already in the team which turned World Tour under his leadership, however he wanted to take a risk and race outside of France: “I didn't want to finish my career without trying this change," he said.
"I didn't do it because the French teams are bad. I think it's just good to see things from another point of view. By moving to a new, international team it takes you out of your comfort zone," Laporte continued. "You have to make sacrifices. It’s very important for me to give my best and to do that I need to have the best technical support. I think everybody knows that Jumbo-Visma is one of the best teams in the world, so for me it was the best choice.”
With it came a change of environment, training methods, racing schedule and focus, and perhaps even the motivation within the team as Jumbo-Visma frequently struck gold throughout the year. “I normally start racing early but this year I started later because we did a training camp in Tenerife for three weeks in February," he revealed.
"I’d done an altitude camp with Cofidis but only for 12 days and it didn’t have much effect. Three weeks was very good. I've always felt good after one week of a training camp and with full support I felt the benefits even more. I made my season debut at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and I felt really good, indeed, I almost won," he continued.
“When you’re with your new teammates for three weeks at altitude and then at other moments, it helps you make friends and come together as a team. It was the same before the Tour de France. In the summer I was with my teammates more than I was with my family but in the end it was worth it," the Frenchman believes.
The spring classics were his main goal, where he and Wout van Aert famously rode away together for a comfortable victory at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic. Weeks before, Laporte won the opening stage of Paris-Nice and took the yellow jersey after he, van Aert and Primoz Roglic quite literally rode away from the rest of the peloton. Strength in numbers was evident, however Laporte himself was on a level above.
Whilst van Aert suffered from a mistimed Covid-19 infection, it gave Laporte some more freedom in the cobbles. He finished second at Gent-Wevelgem aswell, and 9th at the Tour des Flandres. His success run continued however. After virtually securing the team's victory at the Tour de France, alongside being van Aert's right-hand man, Laporte himself was given freedom to chase a win on the 19th day of racing, and took an impressive victory with a solo attack.
“It was an almost perfect Tour for the team and I’m proud to have been part of it. I think it’ll be almost impossible to do better and it’ll be really hard to do the same again. We have to enjoy it and then try again in 2023," he said. "There were a lot of good moments for me personally. Winning a stage in the Tour is a big thing for everyone and especially a French guy. Then we had the success as a team and it was also about the way we won."
“We’d planned the attack on the finale of the stage to Calais so that Wout could win. Then the stage to Col du Glandon, when Jonas won and took the yellow jersey, was a huge day. Then on Hautacam, he and Wout finished it off after we all worked hard. There were a lot of good moments for the team, which are now special memories," he said.
His individual success was notable, however it was still after supporting his leaders throughout three weeks. He showed surprise on beating Tadej Pogacar: “Before the Tour I thought it’d be very hard to beat him because he's so good but planning was a big part of the success."
“Of course we need a guy like Wout, Primož and Jonas to finish it off but they did it. We were very focused on each stage and planned things in detail, using the strength of the team to put riders in attacks on key stages so that we could then put Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates under pressure," the French rider concluded.
After the Tour his success streak only kept growing, as he won the Tour of Denmark and Binche-Chimay-Binche, aswell as finishing second at the World Championships, perhaps only not taking the rainbow jersey as Remco Evenepoel had escaped the peloton earlier on.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Pidcock finished 9th place, 29 minutes down. he is a helluva rider, so gutsy. and he is amazing at all disciplines. but this headline is . . .mij09-11-2026
- I know, watch the video. and listen to her competitors. it was a tricky tacky call at best. WTF is this guy talking about??? my original comment was from the picture it didn't look like anything.mij09-11-2026
- I dunno what you're talking about. you make no sense. MS's competitor and the competitors coach said it was BS. she didn't deviate in a way that relegation should be required. revel LOL. you're so cool, in your own mind.mij09-11-2026
- deviation lol, watch the videomij09-11-2026
- the 'No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines' comment was unfortunately a bit off. didn't you just boast about your principles in the comments section of another article?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment