Christophe Laporte to miss Tour de France 2026 for Team Visma-Lease a Bike after training crash
Published 14/05/2026 at 16:19 GMT+1
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Team Visma-Lease a Bike will be without key rider Christophe Laporte for the Tour de France, with the Frenchman set for a spell on the sidelines after sustaining an injury in a training crash.
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Laporte has torn his quadriceps muscle and thus will miss both the Tour de l’Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and the Tour de France.
Visma have not released any other details of how the Frenchman sustained the injury, simply stating it was ”following a crash during training,” in a statement.Â
Laporte was expected to line up for the team for the Tour de France, which begins on Saturday, July 4 live on TNT Sports and HBO Max, with the Grand Depart taking place in Barcelona this year.Â
The Frenchman, 33, would have ridden in support of Jonas Vingegaard, who is seeking his first yellow jersey since 2023 as he gets set to go head-to-head with defending champion Tadej Pogacar.Â
”Obviously, this is a huge disappointment. I had a strong spring classics campaign and was ready to start preparing for the Tour de France,” Laporte said.Â
”Of course, I was really looking forward to the upcoming races, especially the Tour de France. Right now, the focus is fully on recovery so I can come back as soon as possible.”
Laporte had been riding himself into some strong form after finishing fourth at Omloop Nieuwsblad, before grabbing a podium at In Flanders Fields and a top five in Paris-Roubaix.Â
He last raced on April 19 at the Amstel Gold Race but failed to finish. Visma have indicated that they expect him to be out for several weeks, which could leave him in a race against time to regain fitness in time for the third Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a Espana.
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Visma’s team leader Vingegaard has had a disrupted start to his season following injuries and illness.
He also suffered a training crash that ruled him out of the UAE Tour earlier in the year, with illness also hampering his plans as he lines up an attempt at the Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double.
The Danish star has managed to negotiate the first six stages of the Giro unscathed and he will now rely on the support of the likes of Sepp Kuss and Victor Campenaerts both in his bid for the maglia rosa and then the maillot jaune later this summer.Â
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