This time last year, Christophe Laporte was in something close to the form of his life. The Frenchman won Gent-Wevelgem after a two-up escape with teammate Wout van Aert, and he proceeded to add an emphatic victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen three days later.
Twelve months on, the mood music is rather different for Laporte. The illness that forced the European champion to abandon Milan-San Remo also kept him out of E3 Harelbeke on Friday, and he is all but certain to miss out on defending his Gent-Wevelgem title this weekend.
Speaking to Cyclingnews at the start of E3 Harelbeke, Visma-Lease a Bike directeur sportif Arthur van Dongen explained that Laporte had been unable to train in the days since he abandoned Milan-San Remo. It was hoped that Laporte would be back on his bike on Friday or Saturday.
“He’s still at home in France. He has no fever anymore, but he’s also not ready to ride his bike yet, so that means there’s a question mark for the next races,” Van Dongen told Cyclingnews. “We hope maybe that he can do a race before the Tour of Flanders, but that’s still a question mark. We’ll go day by day. We’ll know more tomorrow.”
Laporte started his season at Opening Weekend, and he immediately impressed at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, placing fifth after spending much of the day off the front with teammates Van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson. A day later, he took fourth at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and he placed 10th in his Strade Bianche debut.
In Van Aert’s absence, Laporte started Milano-San Remo as Visma-Lease a Bike’s leader, but he was surprisingly distanced before the Cipressa, withdrawing shortly afterwards. It later emerged that he had fallen ill during the race.
“Already in the morning, he had some problems with eating and then during the race he came to us and said he didn’t feel good,” Van Dongen said. “And so when we saw he was dropped before the Cipressa, that was no surprise for us. In the evening, he had fever and diarrhea and, well, you know enough.”
Visma-Lease a Bike suffered a further setback on Friday when Norwegian youngster Per Strand Hagenes crashed out in the opening kilometres of E3 Harelbeke. Van Aert’s supporting cast remains one of considerable depth, of course, with Tiesj Benoot, Jan Tratnik and Dylan van Baarle all lining out in Harelbeke, but Laporte’s finishing speed brings an extra dimension to Visma’s tactical options against world champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
It remains to be seen if Laporte will be fit enough to race and make an impact at the Tour of Flanders. Olav Kooij and Benoot look set to lead Visma-Lease A Bike in his likely absence at Gent-Wevelgem, but the team still hopes Laporte can line out alongside Van Aert at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.
“He was in super shape before Milan-San Remo, but it’s not good at all,” Van Dongen said. “Let’s see how it develops, but before the Tour of Flanders, he needs one week of training again. The week after that is Paris-Roubaix, so maybe that’s a nice goal for himself. But let’s see step by step.”
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