"Laporte and I had a lot of vacation last year": Axel Zingle ready to step up after disaster 2025
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike enters the 2026 spring classics campaign with a very different look. Following the departures of key pillars like Tiesj Benoot, Dylan van Baarle, and sprinter Olav Kooij, the Dutch squad is looking for new protagonists. One of the riders expected to fill that void is Axel Zingle, the 27-year-old Frenchman who joined the team last year from Cofidis but has yet to show his true colors.
Zingle was identified as a perfect fit for the team's classic ambitions. However, his debut season in 2025 was a nightmare full of bad luck. Zingle managed only 28 race days, missing the Ardennes classics and the Tour de France due to crashes, and eventually abandoning the Vuelta a España with injuries.
A reset, not a step back
Speaking to WielerFlits, Zingle approached his difficult start with humor. "Let's say I came out of 2025 110% fresh," he laughed. "The other riders in the team already joked that Christophe [Laporte] and I mainly had a lot of vacation last year."
Despite the jokes, the reality was very frustrating for the Frenchman. Zingle underwent shoulder surgery after the Vuelta, leading to a very long off-season. While he won a stage at the Four Days of Dunkirk, where he likely would have won the overall if not for a crash, he admits that he has lost some momentum.
"I cannot say that I am a better rider now than when I came here a year ago," Zingle admitted. "But I still have the same motivation. Or well, actually I am even more motivated. But I don't dare to say now if I am stronger than a year ago."
With the roster changes, Zingle’s role has grown. He will take on a heavier schedule of spring classics alongside new signings Timo Kielich and Owain Doull. His primary job will be to support the team leader, Wout van Aert, but he also has personal ambitions.
"It is always my goal to win races, but in some races I also like to help other teammates to win," he explained. "In the Flemish classics where we start with Wout, we go collectively for victory."
Axel Zingle has 6 professional wins
Amstel Gold Race as the main target
Zingle confirmed a heavy schedule for the coming weeks, as he will tackle may Belgian classics. "I ride, among others, the E3 Saxo Classic, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race."
While he is ready to work on the cobbles, Zingle has circled one race in particular where he believes he can shine. "In that last race [Amstel Gold Race] I come into my own best, if I have to choose one," he said. "Many corners, narrow roads. I love that enormously. That comes from my background in mountain biking."
However, we will most likely not see him in July. Despite being chosen as a late replacement for Laporte last year before his own injuries struck, the plans for 2026 are different. "I normally won't do the Tour de France," he confirmed.
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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- I think other competitors also had great Tours, so it wasn't that Ferrand-Prévot necessarily failed in some way - it's more likely that the other top riders lifted their game and maybe also a bit of luck with no crashes, etc. It's the Tour de France after all. It's not meant to be easy to defend your title (the few exceptions like Pogacar prove the rule).Pogboom01-11-2026
- maybe we should put our cv at the end of each comment post ... same rights for all of us!Ketterechts01-11-2026
- hahah literally all it is. Glad im not the only one noticing, essentially this is just a blog as it is now. Run buy boys from their bedroom hehe Their very subjective aswell, people on twitter even said their pure visma fanboys, if you listen to Ruben silva guy pre TDF this year all he said turned out to be wrong and constantly fail to realize visma isnt where they was before roster wice or means to contest even RBH or Lidl anymore, ,very biased ppl and when you run ''news articles that way its problematic..miguel01-11-2026
- The new joke of the year in 2027: "If both guys (Pogi and Seixas) finish upright on their bikes and both don't get sick for some reason, I think Paul will fight Tadej to the end and will possibly beat him in 2027 at the Tour, yes, I just said that." ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ...PogiSloFans01-11-2026
- Cutting his suit up and getting him to sign it while quite seriously injured is absolutely ghoulishwrsty01-11-2026
- 24 years old?Ketterechts01-11-2026
- Hey @frieder3, yeah sure, bull crap. What experience? You have no eyperience, you're an amateur cyclist... and to make things even worse, you're a lousy amateur cyclist. So what you're saying about your C7 has no relevance... do you even know where C7 is in your body? No, it's not in your knee!!! PS: Trump loves ya... 😍😍😍PogiSloFans01-11-2026
- He won't have a neck problem until he's older and arthritis kicks in lil guy !frieders301-11-2026
- Yep I find any way possible to not have other listen to Bob and VandeVelde commenting on a bike race. His annoying wrong predictions and irritating chuckle are mute worthy!frieders301-11-2026
- 20 winners for 3rd year in a row!Lozza31-10-2026
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