Varois Christophe Laporte won the silver medal in the road race at the World Championships by entering the stage as late as possible on Sunday, as agreed with Thomas Voeckler.
With his silver medal around his neck, Christophe Laporte refused on Sunday, after the official ceremony, to speak of a “small” victory, “Because we didn’t come for that but to win gold. But given the course of the race, we don’t have to spit on this medal.”
What was your role in this World Cup?
He had to go into action only in case of a final sprint. So my role was to follow the pack and bide my time. We knew the bump was too long for me so I could play with the real kickers. But at the same time, we also knew that she couldn’t do big splits, that a guy couldn’t last 40 seconds in there, and therefore there was a chance to have groupings after he’d dumped. This could be my chance.
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Evenepoel is crowned world champion
Why did he wait until the last lap to run over Remco Evenepoel’s pursuers?
It was a complicated situation because 17 kilometers from the finish there was still Romain in the group that could play for the medal even though it was not the best card for the sprint. But as things were slower on the last lap, we gave it a try. We didn’t know anything specific about the situation in advance, Benoît. (Cosnephroy) he told me he was going to attack, valentin (Madouas) He took his steering wheel and I followed. We picked up a lot of runners, slalom between the small groups, but I didn’t know I was running for second place. He was just focused on the finish line not knowing anything else except that Remco was alone in front.
“Of course we still expected to win, but we can be happy with this silver medal”
When did you know that you had just won the silver medal?
After the sprint. I noticed there weren’t many people at the back of the line, just Evenepoel, and was told that he had just finished second. It will continue to be a good lesson, like the one you always have to endure until the end. Nothing ever ends.
The French team had come for the gold medal.
Yes, but you can’t always win. Julian updated us pretty quickly on his condition, he was fine but not as well as usual. I understood that he didn’t want to take any chances by making us work when he wasn’t sure about his legs. He especially wanted to help us, but there wasn’t much to deal with Remco. No one should regret today (Sunday), we have no reason to complain. Of course we still expected to win, but we can be happy with this silver medal. »
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