Christophe Laporte reveals what is keeping him from competing in the Classics

Christophe Laporte spoke out for the first time in 2025. The Visma | Lease a Bike French rider has been sidelined for some time with an unknown problem, but he has now communicated via his team's channels. "This is the second year in a row that I have to sit out this period, and that’s really frustrating. It feels strange." Visma | Lease a Bike has announced that he will not be competing again this spring.

Laporte has not yet competed this year and will not be seen in a race for the time being. "It's not going great, unfortunately. It hurts to have to watch my favorite races from home on TV. Things are improving, but I still feel tired and need to take it easy," says the former winner of spring races such as Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen.

"Right before I was supposed to go on an altitude training camp at the end of January, I started feeling unwell. Tests showed that I have the cytomegalovirus. Since then, I've been recovering and have to take things day by day. The frustrating part is that you can't predict how long it will take. With a broken bone, you have an estimate of how long recovery will be before you can train again. With this virus, you can't determine that in advance, which makes it mentally tough," the French rider explains.

Almost everyone becomes infected with cytomegalovirus (a variant of herpes) at some point. Most people do not notice anything. After an infection, the virus remains in the body, and if the immune system weakens, the infection can return. For healthy adults, it sometimes leads to symptoms similar to glandular fever: days of fever, sore throat, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. Laporte is unlucky with the course of the virus in his case.

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Laporte has come to terms with the situation: "The only thing I can do now is rest and wait until I get better"

Laporte is not having much luck: he cannot cycle in a peloton at the moment. "This is the second year in a row that I have to sit out this period, and that’s really frustrating. It feels strange. At the same time, I've come to terms with the situation: the only thing I can do now is rest and wait until I get better," says Laporte.

"As painful as it is to watch the races on TV, I'm really looking forward to seeing the team perform well in the classics. I'll be the biggest supporter of my teammates. Besides that, I realize the season is still long, and there are plenty of great races after the spring classics. Last year, I missed most of the spring as well, but later on, I won an Olympic medal and took victory in Paris-Tours. That's what I hold on to," says the determined French rider.

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