Marijn de Vries stirs the pot on Gent-Wevelgem: "How proud will Laporte be of a victory where he knows he was not the strongest?"
Cycling
After emerging victorious at Gent Wevelgem alongside his teammate and good friend Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte had the ride of a lifetime. According to Marijn de Vries however the win may not taste as sweet as seems.
"He has already won it once, but what strikes me most is that he wants to say that he doesn't really care about criticism. But by handing the victory here to Laporte, he shows once again that he really cares what is said about him," de Vries says of Wout van Aert to Sporza. "I think: he has shown that he was the strongest, so just win this race. How proud will Laporte be of a victory where he knows very clearly that he was not the strongest?"
Whether he was gifted the biggest win of his life or not, winning Gent-Wevelgem will forever remain on the palmares of Laporte, a major accolade for the Frenchman.
According to Sven Nys, the whole Jumbo-Visma team will be out to return the favour as it were to van Aert at the soonest possible opportunity. "He is really a team player, he has already shown that in the Tour de France. Those men from Jumbo-Visma are going to ride the seam out of their pants in the Tour of Flanders to put him where he should be," says Nys. “What was said on Friday after the race is even better today. 'I just don't need anything'. He wanted to make a point of it."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
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