At 25, Victor Lafay opened his professional counter at the Tour of Italy in the most beautiful way. The Cofidis rider won the first victory of his career on Saturday May 15 in the 8e Giro stage, 170 kilometers long between Foggia and Guardia Sanframondi.
Winner alone at the end of the last difficulty of the day, Lafay had left his breakaway companions 3 kilometers from the finish to win with about thirty seconds ahead of the Italian Francesco Gavazzi (Eolo-Kometa) and the German Nikias Arndt (DSM).
The last 800m victorious of our @victorlafay! ? https://t.co/x0Hq61Uf92
The stage victory was played to the end between the nine members of a breakaway that had formed at 54e kilometer, after a very lively start and a first hour marked by the abandonment of the Australian Caleb Ewan, winner of the 5e and 7e steps. But Lafay, fresher and at the cost of a great effort, managed to play off its competitors in the rise of Guardia Sanframondi, classified in fourth category.
First victory for Cofidis on the Giro since 2010
Professional since 2019, the Savoyard won the silver medal at the European U21 Championships in 2018, behind the Swiss prodigy Marc Hirschi. In Italy, Lafay is only playing his second Grand Tour, after finishing 81e in the general classification of the Tour of Spain last fall. This Saturday, the Frenchman gave Cofidis his first success on the Giro since Damien Monier’s victory in the 2010 Giro d’Italia.
Five minutes after Lafay, the peloton crossed the finish line without major change in the general classification. The Hungarian Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ) keeps the pink leader’s jersey on the eve of the 9e Sunday stage. The latter is announced as the most difficult of the first week, with three climbs in the Abruzzo massif.