Cycling-Laporte breaks French jinx with victory on stage 19 of Tour

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 19 - Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors - France - July 22, 2022 Jumbo - Visma's Christophe Laporte celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 19 REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

CAHORS (Reuters) -Frenchman Christophe Laporte ended a lengthy home drought at the Tour de France, claiming the 19th stage with a perfectly timed effort on Friday to give the local fans something to celebrate for the first time in more than a year.

Laporte, a domestique within the mighty Jumbo-Visma team of yellow jersey holder Jonas Vingegaard and points classification leader Wout van Aert, bridged a small gap with a leading trio in a nail-biting finale before moving clear 300 metres from the line.