No Tour de France for Victor Lafay who needed to undergo a surgery to finall get rid of knee pain
CyclingFriday, 09 May 2025 at 05:00
Victor Lafay is quickly turning into one of major what ifs. After his stellar performances at the 2023 Tour de France, everyone predicted the Frenchman would become a major force at the Ardennes - but no such luck.
Since his transfer to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Lafay added only 46 race days and won't be able add to this number for the time being. Instead, a knee problem that hampered Lafay for first part of 2024 returned with even greater force. Ultimately, the team doctors made the call to have Lafay undergo a surgery with hopes to finally get rid his pain.
"He had to undergo surgery," his employer reported on X. "Last Monday, the procedure was successfully performed. He will now take a month off to recover before he can resume training. He is expected to return to racing in August."
That means that not only will Lafay miss out on the Tour de France for a second year in a row, his position on transfer market will be weakened as well as 2025 happens to be the 29-year-old's transfer year. With expected return in August, Lafay can still try to get in shape for the Classics in Canada and perhaps aim for another top-5 at Tour of Guangxi. But those are not the goals he dreamed off 18 months ago...
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- ...Not if that 2nd best GC rider only rides 1 GT a year and always gets spanked like a naughty child by a dominant champion.. JV will never beat a healthy Pogacar and we will never have to speculate about that ever again. If Jonas stays at Visma, he is going to eventually justify to Van Aert, Jorgensen and Yates why they should continue to sacrifice their palmarés for a man who won't ever win another race that Pogacar wants to win. Visma has already lost riders like Valter and Benoit to other teams and that trend will continue as these champion riders see the man they dedicated all their hard work and sacrifice for get an 11 second time loss in 500m like today .. Jo as does not have the Charisma or the palmares to keep champions working for such a lost cause. He and Visma both need to rethink their approach and make other targets. Their time winning the TdF against a healthy Pogacar is over, sooo... What's next?DoctorNurse7125-07-2025
- I think they should deduct all 20pts from that KomZamorano25-07-2025
- Exactly this... he doesn't have to jump, he's taken his time he needs to defend that time. If he decides to jump on La Plagne so be it but he doesn't have to. Tadej has always been in control... that simpleslappers6625-07-2025
- Inspiring words from a true champion!Lobz7725-07-2025
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- oh, i didn’t mean his career is LITERALLY OVER, like, that he’s not going to ride his bike, get paid, etc. I’m really sorry i was unclear about that. that’s my fault. what i meant was really more figurative, as in, the drama that preceded this TDF showdown with pogačar won’t ever happen again, he’ll never win another grand tour that pogačar also wants to win, he’ll never be a relevant a part of any conversation about “who’s going to win” race x, y, or z if it’s a race pogačar is lining up for. that’s all i meant, because the suggestion that jonas no longer has a team or a salary or a bike is, as you rightly observe, complete nonsense.OCexile25-07-2025
- yeah, nonsense at all. Jorgenson left his captain alone in the middle of the fight, trying to win the stage. Bad.
maria2024202425-07-2025 - Jonas’s salary doesn’t seem out of line. If Pogi isn’t at a race Jonas typically winsmobk25-07-2025
Lafay is the classic example of you get a great TDF stage win, get a lucrative contract and then you dont perform ever again, due to partying or injuries.
His injury problems were known to his past team who still tried to re-sign him, who’s fault, especially if the medical team fails to resolve problems? Not sure it’s offered or possible but teams are free to consider insurance or contract clauses in order to mitigate financial risks.