“It affects everyone within the formation” - Axel Laurance on the successes of Alpecin-Deceuninck with Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen

With stage wins at both the Étoile de Bessèges and the Volta a Catalunya already in 2024, Axel Laurence is having a great first season with the Alpecin-Deceuninck WorldTour team, as he has taken part in the first Monuments of his career at Milano-Sanremo and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, which were won by his teammates Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel.

Being part of a race-winning team can be very helpful in a rider’s development, as Laurance said in an interview with In de Leiderstrui that “the team is performing very well. Mathieu and Jasper show week after week that they are very strong. It is of course very nice for me to drive for such a well-performing team. It affects everyone within the formation. I gained a lot of experience in those Monuments, something that will certainly help me in the coming years”.

On his own performances this season, the Frenchman stated that “I feel very good indeed. I am satisfied with what I have already shown this year, but there are still many great things to come”.

Laurance is now fully focused on the Ardennes Classics, as he is set on the start line for the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as well as Eschborn-Frankfurt. Laurance is set to be riding in support of Van der Poel in many of the upcoming races though, as he said “we have to see how the coming races unfold. That depends on many factors. I hope to be able to help Mathieu to victory in the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. That is the most important thing for us”.

There will be some chances for the U23 World Champion in some of the smaller races though, as he went on to say “in other races, for example a Flèche Wallonne or Eschborn-Frankfurt, I also have my own opportunities. Hopefully I can make something beautiful out of it”.