Christophe Laporte (Jumbo) won the 19th stage of the Tour de France, Friday July 22 in Cahors, the first success for a French rider since leaving Copenhagen. His Danish teammate Jonas Vingegaard kept the yellow jersey two days before the finish in Paris.
” I don’t realize it, I’m happy. The team trusted me. I was told: “it’s for you today”. At two kilometers I came in on the leading trio and it worked. It’s a big reward for me. I had a lot of fun with this team. It’s a beautiful day “, says the winner of the day and teammate of the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard on France Televisions. After a race of movement, Christophe Laporte raised his arms, 28 years after the success of Jacky Durand, at the time champion of France. He signs the second victory of his career in the World Tour after the first stage of Paris-Nice at the start of the season.
First stage victory of his career on the Tour for Laporte
Aged 29, Laporte, spent in the off-season from Cofidis to Jumbo-Visma, won a Tour stage for the first time in his career. The final was animated by a trio formed by the Frenchman Alexis Gougeard, the Belgian Jasper Stuyven and the Briton Fred Wright in the last thirty kilometers.
The arrival of the day was judged on a false flat in the Lot prefecture on a slope of around 5-6%, near the banks of the Lot. Christophe Laporte, who spent the Tour de France 2022 in the service of his team, signs a new success for the Jumbo-Visma formation. The sprinters who were expected in Cahors missed out. What relieve the French clan who hoped for a stage victory before the epilogue next Sunday in Paris on the Champs-Élysées. In the rising false flat leading to the finish, Laporte, who had benefited from the help of the Belgian Wout van Aert transformed into a teammate, appeared in sight of the red flame of the last kilometer. He then took his start to 600 meters to resist the return of the pursuers.
This Friday, July 22, the Tour de France peloton left the Pyrenees in the direction of Cahors on a 188.3 kilometer course designed for sprinters. Positive for Covid-19, the Spaniard Enric Mas, who was 11th in the general classification, had not started this 19e stage. His abandonment brings to sixteen the number of runners who had to abandon the race due to the coronavirus.