Lafay might be climbing better than ever, but retirement still lingers in his mind: "It’s fifty-fifty"

Illness and a knee injury ruined almost the entire year for Lafay. “I'm not sure if I'll be racing again next year,” he said. I haven't made a decision yet, but after two years of considering my next steps, I think I'm at peace with stopping now. I'm okay with stopping," said Lafay, who said he might want to continue as a cheese seller.

In the Tour of Guangxi, however, Lafay just fell short of victory on the steep climb to Nongla. Paul Double (Jayco-AlUla) succeeded with a long attack, but behind him, the Frenchman was the best of the favorites. Riders such as Jhonatan Narváez, Jan Christen, and Cian Uijtdebroeks all fell short: Lafay's acceleration was reminiscent of his Tour victory in the Basque Country two years ago.

Lafay seems to be back at his best, but that gives him no guarantee for his career. In fact, it may be the reason he will still say goodbye to the peloton. “I don't know,” he tells Domestique. “Maybe it’s easier to stop when you’re on top form than when you’re struggling and already forgotten.”

But the Frenchman has not yet been able to make a decision. “It wouldn’t be bad to go out at the top. If I stop, it will be to do other sporting projects, so it’s better if I’m not physically ruined. I wanted to take a decision before coming here, but circumstances have meant it’s taken a bit of time. So I’m really at 50-50.”

In any case, he can look back on a great race and a nice end to his season. “We wanted to play with our numbers, but we lost Aurelien Paret Peintre just before the bottom of the climb, and he was the card we wanted to play, along with me. UAE maybe played a bit too much, attacking in all directions. It’s a bit of a shame because I think I had the legs to win.”

Lafay waited a long time to make his move. Perhaps a little too long, but he didn't know exactly what the race situation was. "I had really put it in my head to give it everything from the left-hand corner. Last year, I saw it wasn’t that steep, so I put it in the small ring in front, and I anticipated the others. I wasn’t sure if someone was still ahead, but I could see a motorbike in front so I guessed there was, and then I saw the Jayco rider."