Victor Lafay targets breakthrough in classics: "It will be tough to win against guys like Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel, but dreaming is allowed"
Cycling
Already known among cycling enthusiasts and talent scouts, Victor Lafay made a name for himself in the opening week of the last Tour de France. First when he was the only rider able to follow Pogacar and Vingegaard uphill in the first stage, but even more when he denied Wout Van Aert a sure victory on the very next day. Now his next steps will take him to Decathlon AG2R La Monidale Team, where he aims to add on to his win tally.
"I'm really excited and curious about this new type of cycling project," he told IDL."Decathlon is becoming the new main sponsor and I suspect we will certainly feel its impact. Initially, just by the new Van Rysel bike alone. We also have a strong roster of riders, so that bodes well. The team's structure was one of the reasons for my move."
"I spoke with several teams about my future last year, even before the Tour de France. Indeed, I found it difficult to make a decision. Having a choice at all is of course a kind of luxury position. I was lucky enough to be able to make the choice myself regarding my sporting future. I deliberately chose this team. There were several foreign options for me, but I definitely preferred the French cycling culture within this team. It was the best choice I could make," he responded.
"Hopefully, I can continue to develop strongly like I have in past seasons, as that's a major source of enjoyment," he then turns to his personal goals. "I'm confident that I can achieve this with this team. Continuously improving is a process that really appeals to me. First and foremost, I want to do better than in 2023. Increasing my victory tally is therefore important. There are many races I'd like to win that also really suit my characteristics. I'm thinking of races like Flèche Wallonne or Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It will be tough to win against guys like Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel, but dreaming is always allowed and possible."
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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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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