In his third season as an U23, France’s Paul Lapeira has truly announced himself to the cycling world, winning four times, including on both the elite French DN1 circuit and a UCI U23 race.
After spending his whole career so far within the AG2R/Chambery family, Paul has been given a contract for the WorldTour team, cementing a childhood dream.
I caught up with him recently to get to know him better.
“We are now at the end of July and I enjoy this season even more than the last ones. Starting the year, I was hoping for some good result in Elite races in France. Winning an N1 French Cup was a goal but realizing it, this is something really special. After that, winning 2.2 U23 San Vendemiano revealed myself to the U23 level. Then signing my first pro contract was a childhood dream. However this is only the beginning of my career and I’m waiting for starting in the WorldTour next year.”
Speaking about his skills as a rider, Paul likes short, intense efforts and attacking, preferring chaos to sitting in the bunch all day.
“I love short efforts at high intensity. This is my biggest strength and the way I like practicing cycling. I like attacking and being outside of organized races. My biggest weakness is maybe climbing and I’m working on it.”
His big win on the U23 scene was at GP San Vendemiano. All eyes were on Juan Ayuso after his double win at Piva and Belvedere a few weeks beforehand, but Lapeira drove a strong breakaway group to the line, beating them in a very close sprint.
“At the start of this race, the favorite was Ayuso. He showed a few weeks before that he was strong in U23 races. So I thought the right way to win the race wasn’t to stay in the peloton, waiting for him doing the race. So, arriving on the circuit with Ca’del Poggio I decided to attack after the first climb. Then we were in a solid breakaway. Organization was very important, so I talked with everybody to push on the flat and downhill to win time when the peloton was slowing down. Then after the last climb, I understood it was possible to go for the win and gave it all to go to the last 500m with the group.”
Speaking about his pro deal, which he signed with Valentin Paret-Peintre too, Paul says it gives him a big confidence boost, and allows him to stay with a team he has known since he was a junior.
“It’s a guarantee of confidence between the team and myself. I’ve been a part of the formation since I was an U19. I’m happy to continue the story with this team. I think we can accomplish a lot and I’m confident for the next years.”
Paul will remain in France for his next races, and has one clear goal in his mind to end the season: win a l’Avenir stage.
“My next races are Tour de Savoie Mont-Blanc (2.2) and Tour de l’Avenir. Winning a stage in l’Avenir is a goal.”
With the Rainbow Jersey on offer for a Worlds win, that extra reason is why that race is Paul’s dream pro win.
“If I could choose one pro race it would be world championships, because of the emblematic Rainbow jersey in the cycling world.”
I’m excited to see what a rider like Paul can do on the pro scene. AG2R-Citroen are very good at developing their riders, and a guy with a fast sprint like Paul can for sure win races in his career.
U23 Cycling Zone wishes to thank Paul for his time answering my questions and I wish him all the best for the rest of the season and his upcoming pro career. You can find Paul on Twitter here.
U23 Cycling Zone 