Axel Laurance

Axel Laurance (born 13 April 2001) is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam .

Career Early career Laurance started cycling at an early age, initially partaking in BMX, before moving to other disciplines including road, track and cyclo-cross. As a junior rider in 2019, he won stages of the and the Grand Prix Rüebliland.

In 2020, he joined the Vélo Club Pays de Loudéac, the development squad for . In June 2021, he finished third overall in the Under-23 Peace Race with the French national team, having won the last stage in a small group sprint.

B&B Hotels–KTM (2022) In August 2021, he joined UCI ProTeam as a stagiaire, and signed to ride with the team full time in 2022.

In August 2022, he finished second at the 2022 Bretagne Classic Ouest–France in his first year as a professional. A month later, he took his first pro win, outsprinting Jonathan Milan and Matej Mohorič on stage four of the CRO Race.

Alpecin–Deceuninck Development Team (2023) At the end of 2022, folded, forcing Laurance to find a new team. He was forced to step down to the UCI Continental level with , as their World Tour squad had already reached the maximum 30 riders. Laurance took several wins in 2023, most notably culminating with the World Under-23 Road Race Championships, winning after a 26 kilometer solo effort.

Alpecin–Deceuninck (2024) In 2024, he officially joined UCI WorldTeam , taking an early season victory on stage two of the Étoile de Bessèges in February. In late March, he won his first UCI WorldTour level race on stage five of the Volta a Catalunya.

Personal life Laurance comes from a family of cyclists: he is the son of , who was a professional cyclist in 1995 and 1996, and Manuella Le Cavil, a three-time Brittany regional champion. His sister is also a cyclist.

Major results

2018

1st Tour du Morbihan Juniors 1st Stage 2a (TTT) Aubel–Thimister–Stavelot 6th Overall Sint-Martinusprijs Kontich 2019 1st Road race, Brittany Junior Championships 1st Tour du Morbihan Juniors 5th Overall Ronde des Vallées 1st Stage 1 7th Overall Aubel–Thimister–Stavelot 1st Stage 2a (TTT) 10th Overall Grand Prix Rüebliland 1st Stage 1 2020 1st Stage 4a Circuit des Plages Vendéennes (TTT) 2021 1st Stage 3 La SportBreizh 8th Overall Course de la Paix U23 1st Stage 3 2022 (1 pro win) 2nd Bretagne Classic 5th Overall CRO Race 1st Stage 4 10th Overall Tour de Bretagne 2023 1st Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships 1st Stage 4 Tour Alsace 3rd Tour of Leuven 5th Overall Circuit des Ardennes 1st Stage 1 9th Veneto Classic 2024 (4) 1st Overall Tour of Norway 1st Stage 2 1st Stage 5 Volta a Catalunya 1st Stage 2 Étoile de Bessèges 2025 5th Road race, National Road Championships 5th Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 8th Grand Prix La Marseillaise 2026 (4) 1st Stage 3 Tour of the Basque Country 1st Stage 3 Tour de la Provence 2nd Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 1st Stages 1 & 4