World Cycling Championships: Frenchman Christophe Laporte ambushed for the rainbow jersey

The men's individual road race at the World Cycling Championships in Scotland will take place on Sunday 6 August. Frenchman Christophe Laporte could well be a leading outsider against the outgoing winner, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, the big favourite.

Christophe Laporte wins in Cahors on the Tour de France 2022. AFP - MARCO BERTORELLO

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

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Two weeks after the end of the Tour de France which he did not contest, Remco Evenepoel comes to defend his title in Scotland. On Saturday 29 July, the Belgian rider scored a record hat-trick by winning the Clásica San Sebastián in Spain where he had already won in 2019 and 2022. A real successful warm-up tour in the run-up to the Worlds.

After a second consecutive victory on another classic, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, but forced to retire in the Giro d'Italia in May, Remco Evenepoel, 23, confirms his status as favorite for the road race of the Worlds. But the young Belgian could come across a serious competitor in the person of Christophe Laporte.

Christophe Laporte, one of the best Frenchmen at the moment

At 30 years old and in the prime of his life, the Var, a member of the Dutch Jumbo-Visma team, is one of the best Frenchmen at the moment. He could well play spoiler: this season, he has offered himself two beautiful classics (Ghent-Wevelgem, Through Flanders), and two successes on the Critérium du Dauphiné.

The vice-world champion of the title, is in legs as shown by his Tour de France where he worked hard for the winner Jonas Vingegaard. "I gained a lot of confidence, and confidence changes a lot for a rider," he explained to France Télévisions during the Grande Boucle. Above all, the course in Scotland is perfectly suited to his profile as a classics rider, fast, resistant and all-terrain.

« 

It's a special circuit, we haven't seen that for a very long time. He's very technical, you need punch and experienced guys. There are 48 corners and there are ten laps, that's not far from 500 corners in the last 140 kilometers. If it rains, I prefer not to know what it will give, "said coach Thomas Voeckler who relies a lot on Christophe Laporte, "a super important element".

Don't miss your chance

This will be the longest distance since 1981 to Prague in Czechoslovakia with 277.6 kilometers from Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, to Glasgow. A 133km loop will be covered before entering a city circuit, with ten laps of 14.4km consisting of short and technical climbs.

«

There will be more adversity than us on paper, but we are going there to bring back the jersey," said Thomas Voeckler. "I need, it's true, my moments for myself, to have my chance. I can't be a teammate throughout the year either," said Christophe Laporte in the columns of Libération before the last Tour de France. In Scotland, the super lieutenant of the Jumbo-Visma, who has shone on the three biggest stage races in France (Tour de France, Paris-Nice and Critérium du Dauphiné) will have the opportunity to play the leading roles.

The men's selection for the road race: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step), Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroën), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Florian Sénéchal (Soudal-Quick Step)

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