Axel Laurance

Axel Laurance
	Laurance in 2024
Personal information
Born	13 April 2001 (age 23)
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Team information
Current team	Alpecin–Deceuninck
Discipline	Road; Cyclo-cross;
Role	Rider
Amateur teams
2017	EC Quéven
2018	Véloce Vannetais
2019	AC Lanester 56
2020–2021	VC Pays de Loudéac
2021	B&B Hotels p/b KTM (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2022	B&B Hotels–KTM
2023	Alpecin–Deceuninck Development Team
2024–	Alpecin–Deceuninck
Major wins
	Stage races Tour of Norway (2024)
Medal record
Representing France
Men's road bicycle racing
World Championships

Axel Laurance (born 13 April 2001) is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Alpecin–Deceuninck.^[3]

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.^[4] As a junior rider in 2019, he won stages of the Ronde des Vallées [fr] and the Grand Prix Rüebliland.

In 2020, he joined the Vélo Club Pays de Loudéac, the development squad for B&B Hotels p/b KTM.^[5] 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 B&B Hotels–KTM as a stagiaire, and signed to ride with the team full time in 2022.^[6]

In August 2022, he finished second at the 2022 Bretagne Classic Ouest–France in his first year as a professional.^[7] A month later, he took his first pro win, outsprinting Jonathan Milan and Matej Mohorič on stage four of the CRO Race.^[8]

Alpecin–Deceuninck Development Team (2023)

At the end of 2022, B&B Hotels–KTM folded, forcing Laurance to find a new team. He was forced to step down to the UCI Continental level with Alpecin–Deceuninck Development Team, 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.^[9]

Alpecin–Deceuninck (2024–present)

In 2024, he officially joined UCI WorldTeam Alpecin–Deceuninck, taking an early season victory on stage two of the Étoile de Bessèges in February.^[10] In late March, he won his first UCI WorldTour level race on stage five of the Volta a Catalunya.^[11]

Personal life

Laurance comes from a family of cyclists: he is the son of Franck Laurance [fr], who was a professional cyclist in 1995 and 1996, and Manuella Le Cavil, a three-time Brittany regional champion. His sister Typhaine Laurance [fr] is also a cyclist.^[12]^[13]