No Tour de France for Victor Lafay who needed to undergo a surgery to finall get rid of knee pain

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...