One small mistake cost Oier Lazkano possible Tour de France win: "Cycling owes nothing to anyone"
Cycling
Oier Lazkano has been in many breakaways in this Tour de France 2024 and today might've been the final day where he could've gotten the win. The Movistar Team rider from Alava finished fifth in Barcelonnette but was quite disappointed with how the day turned out.
He was one of the most active throughout the day, with the support of Alex Aranburu and Gregor Mühlberger in the breakaway, but could not get out of the winning attack by Michael Kwiatkowski that ended up giving the victory to Belgian Victor Campenaerts. He was in the chasing group with four other riders, but there was never good collaboration with other riders which saw the leading trio go up the road.
He spoke to Spanish radio colleagues after the stage, completely bursting, and regretting that he had not followed Campenaerts because he had him marked at the start: "I had the stage marked and it was gone, we had it within 10 seconds and in the end it was impossible". He is not satisfied with what he has done so far because he is very clear about what he wants to do in this Tour: "I don't know, I came here to win".
I have a lot to learn
Self-critical, he made it clear that he had made a mistake by not following Campenaerts at the decisive moment:
"It's my first Tour, I have a lot to learn. I've never been in such a big breakaway in a Grand Tour, from the TV it's something else. I blame myself for not following Campenaerts. He told me on stage 2 that he wanted to win this stage. From the beginning I knew he was going to be there. Richard [Carapaz] and Healy had a lot of fatigue from yesterday".
At the nailed moment he got overconfident and couldn't follow the Belgian: "He was in front of me. I saw on the right that others were going to come out, in the end they didn't come out and he went away from me. It's difficult to ride on the inside, on the inside at 180 beats you can see a tenth of the things you see on TV, that's what it is, you have to learn".
At the end, he sprinted to fifth on the day. Quique Iglesias, from Cope, asked him if the Tour owed him something and he was clear: "Cycling owes nothing to anyone. Here everyone comes here well trained, at the top of their game". Finally, he promised to keep fighting until the end: "I still have some gas left".
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Yes, Roglic could theoretically have beaten Sepp. Jonas must have had complete confidence that he could come back and win the Vuelta another year. Visma had not allowed Roglic to ride the Tour that year, so his future did not look so bright, despite his narrow Giro win..Hills3315-11-2026
- So far, a good series about riders before my time, even if the text feels AI generated like so much on this site. About the rider, he seems like one of many who are active fan favorites but don’t survive in the stories of cycling, a few decades later - I didn’t really know anything about him and this was a good read, thank you!RidesHills15-11-2026
- A calm, honest documentary, a bit of hagiography but mostly not too much. When he talks about a coffee shop, it aligns with several things in his world - he might want calm, but he does (more than a little bit) have someone near him (his fiancee) who makes sure that things happen the way he expects. Many atheletes have retired only to find out just how much others were taking care of their lives for them. If they work out (I'm old, things happen), I am sure it will take a renegotiation, which is a good thing. I truly enjoyed watching it, seeing him, seeing her, seeing the whole system built around him.RidesHills15-11-2026
- You do? My mother grew up around Bleiburg (Pliberk), across the border in Austria . My grandparents lived close to the train station in Bleiburg, and I spent a lot of the 70s and 80s there. The "Jugo" train of my youth went to Dravograd or Maribor, exotic places (behind the wall) at the time. What a moment that was, the 10 days war of '91 - times sure have changed.RidesHills15-11-2026
- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
Loading
🇫🇷 @LeTour - Meta 🏁. Ⓜ️ Actitud y perseverancia en la nerviosa 18º etapa, donde fuimos protagonistas en la fuga del día con @LazkanoOier 5º, @aranburualex 14º y @muehlberger_94 29º en Barcelonnette, localidad donde Campenaerts (LTD) vencería. 📸 @GettySport #TDFF2024 I
Write a comment