Winner of the second stage of the Tour de France in San Sebastian, this Sunday, July 2, Victor Lafay (Cofidis) revealed himself to the general public after a discreet start to his career, littered with brilliance. At 27, Lafay, a former great hope of French cycling, is beginning to build up a fine list of achievements.
Many have tried it, but few have done it. The Tour de France kilometre stunt is a mirage for many riders, who end up breaking their teeth a few meters from the line. After Fabian Cancellara in 2007 in Compiègne, Victor Lafay has revived this art of winning by beating Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (Team UAE Emirates) on the second stage of the Tour de France in San Sebastian, this Sunday, July 2. A victory in front of the two ogres of the world cycling out of nowhere, like the career of the elusive rider that is Lafay, as talented as he is unpredictable.
A belated hope
At a time of early cycling prodigies like Juan Ayuso or Cian Uijtdebroeks, both just in their twenties, Victor Lafay (27) is like a UFO who takes his time. However, in the hopeful category, Lafay played the leading roles. In 2017, he was titled French champion in Saint-Amand-Montrond ahead of Benoît Cosnefroy. Trained by AG2R-Citroën in Chambéry, he also became vice-champion of European hope in 2018, only beaten by Marc Hirschi. The Lyonnais turned professional with Cofidis that same year at the age of 22, an age at which Remco Evenepoel already had four years of experience with the pros. He will have to wait three more years to raise his arms in the premier category.
A first brilliance on the Giro
If Victor Lafay has passed the different stages of a career at his own pace but serenely, he can boast of having obtained his first professional victory in the Tour of Italy, a fact which is not within the reach of the first came. On the 8th stage of the 2021 edition , Victor Lafay won alone ahead of Francesco Gavazzi and Nikias Arndt at Guardia Sanframondi. On a small cloud, he struggled to measure the extent of his achievement: “I still don’t realize, it’s incredible. “ Then 25 years old, Victor Lafay unlocks his counter on the Giro before confirming with a great 2022 season.
If there is no small victory on a Grand Tour, he nevertheless wins the 3rd stage of the Arctic Race of Norway. Earlier in the year, he distinguished himself by being (already) the only rider to be able to follow Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the third stage from Tireno-Adriatico to Bellante, where he took third place behind the leaders. This year, in addition to his success in the Tour de France, he shone in France by winning the Tour du Doubs and taking a fine 6th place in the Flèche wallonne, confirming his qualities as a puncher.
A quirky personality
Outside of cycling, Victor Lafay is as elusive as the rider. At the end of the second stage of the Tour de France, Anthony Perez, his roommate during the Tour, paints the portrait of an “a little crazy” man at RMC Sport. “ He has a fart in his helmet. He goes to bed late, he gets up late, he does anything and it works… I don’t understand a thing about this guy”, affectionately lists Perez before comparing the winner of the second stage of the Tour de France to a “teenager”. who “talks to himself in the room”.
A rider who therefore seems detached from the cycling thing, relying only on his instincts on the bike, testifies to his reaction after his victory in San Sebastian. “For once, I really had a plan in the final, which I’m not necessarily used to, smiled the Lyonnais at the France 2 microphone. I knew it was going to attack in the bump at the end, I let it be. I stayed behind, to arrive with momentum, I saw that it was slowing down a bit, I passed, I put myself in an aero position and I no longer calculated. With this second Grand Tour victory, Victor Lafay enters a new dimension five years after signing his first professional contract.
