Christophe Laporte ready to play leading role in E3 Saxo Classic: "Good benchmark"

Before the start of the E3 Saxo Classic, the focus was mainly on top favorite Mathieu van der Poel and his (on paper) biggest challenger Mads Pedersen, but we should certainly not forget Christophe Laporte. The Frenchman has already finished second in this race and says he is ready to play a leading role.

Laporte was on the podium at the E3 Saxo Classic in 2022, alongside his teammate Wout van Aert, but the Belgian is not participating this year. Does this change the dynamics within Visma | Lease a Bike? "Obviously, having a rider like Wout van Aert at the start changes a lot," Laporte said before the start to Het Nieuwsblad.

"He is one of the best classic riders in the world. I’m really curious what today will bring for me. I think we all know where the key points are here in the E3. That’s at the Taaienberg, which of course is still far from the finish line."

Critical passage
"Most likely, we’ll be away with a smaller group after that. And then we have the Paterberg and the Kwaremont, which form the real finale of this race. But it’s clear that this is a course that suits Mathieu (Mathieu van der Poel, ed.)."

However, Laporte is optimistic about his own chances. "I feel ready, I’m 100%. I’m curious how I’ll feel during the race. It’s a benchmark for the rest of the spring. I was second here before, it would be nice to improve on that. But it’s a tough race, I’ll have to do my best."