"I’m happy to stop": Lafay reflects after strong ride against van Aert, but admits he's unsure about his future

“There have been a lot of ups and downs,” Lafay began his story in the Tour of Britain with Daniel Benson. “Last year, I had my injury in January after changing teams. It was my left knee. It was hard to start a new season with a new team and to be injured. It took us a lot of time to find out how to be better and to cycle again.”

It wasn't until June last year that he was able to race again. “In June last year, I could start again. Then I could prepare well for the Vuelta, and Ben O’Connor took the red jersey. That was a really good adventure. So the end of that season was okay, and I did a good race in China for my last race. I was happy to finish in good shape,” said the Frenchman, who finished fourth in the Gree-Tour of Guangxi.

The idea was to keep going in the new year, but misfortune struck again. “I was hoping that 2025 would be a nice year, but I started to have an illness in January and February. I then focused on Milan-San Remo, and I was very good in that race, but there was a crash just ahead of me on the Cipressa.” The same knee problem returned.

On Liberation Day this year, he had surgery on that knee. “This time I could find a surgeon who could operate on me, and now it’s okay, but it took one month of doing nothing after the surgery, another month of rehab, and then I could start to cycle again.”

Via the Tour de l'Ain and the Tour du Limousin, Lafay went to the Tour of Britain, but there too, things didn't go well. “I prepared to race the Tour de l'Ain again in August about a month ago. I was good in the Tour du Limousin, and I was hoping that in the Tour of Britain I could get some results, but I fell sick after the first stage. You can hear my voice, and I’m struggling now,” he said after stage four. The Frenchman would ultimately not start the final stage.

So, a lot of misery, and then the doubts about the future are not surprising. Lafay does not yet have a contract for next year, but first he wants to evaluate the situation. “Last year it was really hard because at one moment, I was thinking I might not ride a bike again, even just for fun.”

“I don’t know yet for 2026,” the 29-year-old Frenchman continued. “’m not sure if I’ll race again next year. I’ve not decided yet, but with these two years I’ve had a lot of time to decide on what I’d do after cycling, and I think that I’m okay to stop now. I’m happy to stop.”

Still, he doesn't want to make a final decision yet. "I will take a few weeks, and I want to decide when I’m in good shape, but now it’s not good because I’m sick. After a good race, I’ll decide."

“I’m 29, I’m not 19 like these young guys. Cycling has changed a lot in these years,” Lafay explained his doubts. “I did this all my life since I was five, and there’s something else to do. We risk our lives cycling, and I have a lot of things to do out of cycling.”

Such as? “First, I want to travel but really enjoy it, not like how we travel now in countries and never see anything. Also, I want to do other sports. I have a lot of ideas for work that I’d like to do after. Sell cheese in Japan, for example. Because I’m a cheese lover. I have a lot of good ideas and I know that the future will be really good,,” the Frenchman assured us.