Laporte wins prologue, Perez and Herrada look to GC
Image 1 of 5
Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) waves to the crowd having won the prologue of the 2019 Tour de Luxembourg(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Anthony Perez at the 2019 Cofidis team presentation(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Christophe Laporte on his way to winning the prologue time trial at the 2019 Tour of Luxembourg(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) took the first yellow leader's jersey after winning the prologue time trial at the 2019 Tour de Luxembourg(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jesus Herrada Lopez (Cofidis Solutions Credits)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Christophe Laporte's victory in the short prologue time trial that kicked off the Tour de Luxembourg on Wednesday evening is just part of a bigger plan for French Pro Continental team Cofidis at this year's five-day, UCI 2.HC-ranked stage race. The team is also looking ahead to next month's Tour de France, which it received a 'wild card' invitation to.
"I felt good on the hill up to the finish, and climbed well, so I'm really happy to have won," Laporte told RTL Luxembourg.
While Laporte powered to the win on the 2.1km course in the centre of Luxembourg City by just 16 hundredths of a second over Corendon-Circus rider Marcel Meisen and 63 hundredths of a second ahead of Piet Allegaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Cofidis were also looking long-term in the race, and to Anthony Perez and Jesús Herrada, in particular, who finished ninth and 11th on the stage, respectively, five and six seconds down on their teammate.
"Why not try for a third stage win, and try to win overall, either through me or Jesús?" said Perez on his team's website ahead of the race, with the Frenchman having won a stage at each of the last two editions of the Tour de Luxembourg.
"Jesús and I have started to really get to know each other well, and to really trust each other at races, which makes us a force to be reckoned with. Christophe is also really motivated to do well at the race," he continued, as Laporte proved on Wednesday. "We'll give it everything, like we do at every race."
Cofidis have also been handed one of the four 'wild card' berths for this year's Tour de France, which starts in Brussels, Belgium, on July 6. Perez rode the Tour for the first time in 2018, and hopes he can improve on his performance there last year, providing he gains selection from the team's shortlist.
"I'm thinking a lot about the Tour, and am hoping to do better than I did last year, and maybe nab a decent finish on a stage," Perez said, having taken 13th place on stage 14 to Mende last year, which was won by Astana's Omar Fraile, and having been part of a day-long breakaway earlier in the race, on stage 4, which was only caught with a kilometre to go.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The Tour of Luxembourg continues with a road stage on Thursday, taking the riders 191.3km from the country's capital to the town of Hautcharage, close to the Belgium border.
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
