Second in the general classification the day before behind Magnus Sheffield (Ineos), Laporte narrowly edged out the American on Saturday, winning the bonus game.

Dane Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Trek) took third place in the stage and in the final general classification.

The 29-year-old from Var is asserting himself a little more within the world peloton and in the Dutch armada, which he joined at the start of the season.

Winner of the first stage of Paris-Nice alongside Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert, Laporte was then the only Frenchman to raise his arms in the Tour de France, at the end of the 19th stage.

A runner with recognized but sometimes nonchalant punching qualities when he played for Cofidis (2014-2021), Laporte had a click when he moved abroad at the start of the year, which he then described as "enormous change".

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Van Aert's luxury teammate in the sprints, Laporte contributed to his team's dominance in the Great Loop, winning in six stages.

In the Tour of Denmark, he also took his sprinter Olav Kooij in the third stage to allow him to win, finishing just behind him.

The Varois was already well placed in the general classification at the end of the second stage, which he had concluded in third place.

The Tour of Denmark also marked the return of Colombian Egan Bernal to competition seven months after his serious accident.

On January 24, the South American had hit a coach head-on in training in Colombia.

He had been operated on several times for a multitude of fractures (femur, patella, vertebrae).

"I had a 95% chance of being paraplegic and almost lost my life," he said.

Discreet during the five stages, the winner of the Tour de France 2019 abandoned 28.4 kilometers from the finish after being left behind, greeting the public who applauded him.

© 2022 AFP