Pithie didn't appreciate his results during spring: "Everything was a disappointment just because I wanted to win so badly"

Laurence Pithie was the revelation of the 2024 spring season. Suddenly, a 21-year-old New Zealander was riding at the front. First, he already won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, followed by a remarkable weekend, a strong Paris-Nice, and a highlight by finishing seventh in Paris-Roubaix. Unfortunately, the rest of the season was a bit less all around. For 2025, however, the Kiwi found renewed energy: "I want to challenge Van der Poel for Monument wins next year."

Under the motto, 'dream big or go home.' His way of racing last spring confirms this, and he says it himself: "Shoot for the stars." A perfect Red Bull rider because that is Pithie's goal for this winter. After four years in French service with Groupama-FDJ, the now 22-year-old rider is moving to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe for three years.

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A tricky start for Pithie: 'I definitely was questioning myself if I was in the right place'

"I always wanted to be a professional athlete. I was always sporty but for cycling, I fully committed at the end of 2016 and the start of 2017 is when I stopped running and got a coach for cycling," Pithie told Rouleur.

The transition from New Zealand racing to European was a big difference. "I found it really hard to go from racing with 50 guys maximum in New Zealand on big, wide roads, and then coming to Europe. My first road race was Le Samyn which is like a 1.1 and it had Van der Poel there, which was pretty intimidating. I don't think I left the back of the bunch until I pulled out of the race. I definitely was questioning myself after that if I was in the right place."

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Very ambitious: "It was still a disappointment because I wasn't just finishing it off on that top step"

But Pithie possesses great perseverance, and eventually, he could adapt. Groupama-FDJ was also very important in this. "They were the team who gave me the opportunity when I was no one so I wanted to give back and have some loyalty to them." So he turned pro with the French in 2023 and 2024 was his real breakthrough.

A season that was fantastic for the 21-year-old rider until the Giro d'Italia. "At the time, I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have. I was in the leader's jersey in Paris-Nice, but the stage result was second or third. It was still a disappointment because I wasn't just finishing it off on that top step. At that time of year, everything was a disappointment just because I wanted to win so badly and do well for the team and do well for everyone around me," he says.

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Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe was a train I had to catch

Despite the good care of the French, Pithie is looking for other places in 2025 and onward. Sunny German places in this case. "I would have been happy to stay at Groupama-FDJ but I definitely struggled with a lot of aspects of the team. There was the language barrier, which was difficult for me. As I became more of a leader this year, I realised that it was difficult to express myself in a different language and I felt like I couldn't always get my point across in the way I wanted."

With Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's thirteen nationalities next year, plenty of people will speak English. "It was an opportunity I couldn't say no to with the resources that Red Bull has. I really wanted to get on board for their team for the Classics next year. I knew they were signing some strong guys, and they were all super positive and motivated to have me there. It seemed like the correct and logical decision for my career development."

Marc Lamberts, former trainer of Wout van Aert, will become Pithie's trainer. So this gives a view of the goals of Pithie in 2025. "Sanremo is where it will all start with me in terms of the big Classics and then Roubaix. Roubaix can be a bit of a lottery sometimes but at the moment, Van der Poel is on the top step and dominates those Monuments. Really, I want to start competing with him. I know it's ambitious and I'm young, but you have to start somewhere," Pithie laughed.

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