I was surprised to see Laporte (🇫🇷 Visma) win a mass sprint. Already in his final days in Cofidis, his role had diversified, he had started to turn into a classic rider rather than a sprinter; and this option increased once he joined Visma. Even before that, his best performances were after a hard race, in groups with very few sprinters or none at all; he won very few mass sprints, even at medium level.

[–] Deschanel2017@lemmings.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Tour of Andalusia (stage 3, 20/2/2026)

Spoiler

Today, Laporte (🇫🇷 Visma) missed the victory because of his own leadout Zingle🇫🇷 who got in his way when he moved aside in the end of his launching effort. He still finished 3^rd^ on the same line as the first two.

Penhoët (🇫🇷 FDJ) was coming fast, but it is a law of nature that Penhoët can never win, therefore Fretin (🇧🇪 Cofidis) suddenly appeared on the other side between Laporte and the fence to snatch the victory.

Oh, and Crabbe (🇧🇪 Flanders-Baloise) who surprised everyone by winning a stage on the Star of Bessèges, scored a couple of UCI points again by finishing 5^th^, before Aranburu🇪🇸 and Pidcock🇬🇧!