Christophe Laporte realized “a childhood dream” by unlocking his counter on the Tour de France on Friday during the 19th stage in Cahors where he won the first French victory, two days from the finish. “It’s just happiness, I’m really very happy. I was already fully satisfied with this Tour de France, we did great teamwork. But today I won a stage of the Tour de France , it’s a childhood dream. Everyone dreams of it and I did it,” said the Jumbo-Visma rider.
“I was really well placed because we wanted to put Jonas (Vingegaard) in front. After the little chicane, there was a little break, I did the job to go there, I didn’t hesitate, I knew that it was a chance for me”, told the team-mate of the yellow jersey. “At 500 meters I gave it my all until the line. At 200 meters I looked behind, I saw that it was going to do it and I was even able to savor a little bit, it’s really amazing, I’m very very happy.”
“It’s still quite incredible”
Asked about the full card of his team on this Tour, the former Cofidis, 29, said: “it’s sure that it’s a huge Tour de France for the team. If all ends well, we are going to win the Tour de France, the green jersey, the polka dot jersey, 5 stages, it’s still quite incredible”.
“We must not forget that it is a lot of sacrifices. I spent a lot of time away from my family in recent months, I spent a week at home,” he said. “But we are a very tight-knit group. We must also not forget that all the riders of this team are world tops”, he concluded.