No Tour de France for Victor Lafay who needed to undergo a surgery to finall get rid of knee pain
Cycling
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.
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"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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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- this is just stupid. you already have 23%, gravel is over the topabstractengineer03-11-2026
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- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
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- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
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