Recovering Laporte sees major difference at Visma | LaB compared to other teams: "In France, we have a certain mentality"

"That's where I became a professional again," the Frenchman recalls his transfer to the Dutch team after the 2021 season. "It's a different way of working, where everything is more professional. The level of the riders is also higher, which pushes you as a rider to get the most out of yourself."

However, a more professional environment also means more choices must be made. "You have to make a lot more personal sacrifices. For example, we have a lot more altitude training camps now." The former European champion sees this as a big difference from his time at Cofidis. "I'm not saying it's a completely different sport now because that would be an exaggeration, but when you look at the race preparation, they are two different things."

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It has been just over three years since Laporte transferred to what was then Jumbo-Visma. "I didn't speak English well when I arrived, so I gradually learned it. The team has been very supportive, and by team, I mean the staff and the riders." There was a different mindset within the team than at Cofidis. "I immediately liked the mentality. I said back then: in France, we have a certain mentality; abroad, they have a certain mentality, and I can combine the two nicely."

In 2021, Laporte's last year with the French team, Guillaume Martin, Elia Viviani, and Victor Lafay, were the top riders at Cofidis alongside Laporte. A year later, the Frenchman was riding for Jumbo-Visma with world-class riders Wout van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard, and Primoz Roglic as teammates. That made a big difference for the then-29-year-old rider. "It's really beneficial to be around real champions because only a few riders are among the best in the world. I learned a lot from that."

It was mainly the personalities of these top riders that struck Laporte and still impress him today. "I think we have very modest leaders in our team. They are just normal people who are naturally put on a pedestal because they win so much. But they are genuinely normal people." He would even go so far as to make the following bet: "I think that if someone who knows nothing about cycling joined our team, they wouldn't be able to guess who the leaders are and who aren't."

As a result, the Frenchman has learned a lot from his teammates at what is now called Visma | Lease a Bike, so much so that Laporte is questioning his own approach. "They really helped me fit in. It made me think about when I was with Cofidis and foreigners joined the team. Back then, I wasn't very open. Now I know I could have been much nicer and more open," concludes the 32-year-old rider.