France breathes sigh of relief after Christophe Laporte snatches home victory in Cahors

The victory means Jumbo-Visma have five stage wins at the Tour de France to add to the yellow, green, and polka dot jerseys

Christophe Laporte at the 2022 Tour de France
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Tour de France was in trouble. 19 stages in, three weeks since the race kicked off in Copenhagen at the beginning of July, there had still been no French winner. It did not look likely on stage 19 either, a day that was designated as one for the fast men, something France is lacking a true example of at this year's race.

With just a time trial and the final sprint stage in Paris to come, it was looking difficult to find hope for France. Step forward Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma). The man from Toulon attacked with 400 metres to go, catching the sprinters by surprise, and held on to take the biggest victory of his career to date.

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Adam Becket
News editor

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing, speaking to people as varied as Demi Vollering to Philippe Gilbert. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.