Bad luck continues to stick to the wheels of Visma-Lease a bike (Robert Gesink fell in the first stage and did not leave the next day) and Christophe Laporte (31 years old). Present at the Giro, the Frenchman announced that he would not start today’s stage towards Prati di Tivo, the second arrival at the summit since the departure from Turin. Victim of a fall in the 5th stage, in difficulty on Friday during the time trial in the streets of Perugia (107th, he was taken over by Daan Hoole, Edoardo Affini and Luke Lamperti), the Varois preferred to throw in the towel.
A new hard blow when he had already had to draw a line under the Flandriennes, his main objective, as he confided in Turin, the day before the start of the Giro: “I had a lot of days off, I was sick, I had surgery for a saddle problem that I had been having for a long time and which got worse. The Flandriennes are races that I love and if there was ever a year when I wanted to run them, it was this year with the European champion jersey. That’s how it is, we don’t choose. »
Fatalist, he had finally added the Giro to his program “rather than a training block at altitude”), with no particular expectations other than to line up the kilometers for him who had only five days of racing (including his abandonment in Milan San Remo) before the Tour of Italy: “I haven’t specially prepared for the Giro but I’m happy to be here. With all the races I missed, I need to run, it will do me good morally to continue the days of racing. » He planned to “seize the opportunities, help Olav (Kooij) in the sprints and have fun. » But his fall towards Lucca, the day before the white paths stage he was aiming for (“I like it”), got the better of his measured ambitions and his preparation for the Tour.
This Saturday morning, leaving Spoleto, the wearer of the white European champion jersey preferred to give up. “Unfortunately, it is clear that Christophe Laporte will not start today,” posted Visma-Lease a bike on his X account. “He never completely recovered from his fall in stage 5. With the team , it was decided to take the necessary rest. Get back in the saddle quickly, champion. »
