Victor Lafay opens up on mystery illness that has wiped out his 2026 season

A Tour de France and Giro d’Italia stage winner, and runner up at last year’s Tour of Guangxi, Lafay joined the team after briefly considering whether to continue his professional career at all.

The 30-year-old had struggled through previous seasons with injury and was open to the idea of walking away from racing. A conversation with team founder Bas Tietema convinced him otherwise.

“The story he told me, and what this team stands for, made me realise I wasn’t done yet,” Lafay said in the Substack of the team. “At the Rockets, I could be myself and play a part in something exciting.”

He started the year in good condition. After the team’s January training camp, Lafay travelled to China to visit his girlfriend, a trip that had been planned with the team around his racing schedule. He returned to France more than a week before his intended season debut, but soon began to experience unusual levels of fatigue.

“At first, I thought it was jet lag or the travel,” he said.

Lafay reduced his training load, but when the fatigue remained after a week, he contacted the team doctor and underwent blood tests. Having previously suffered from a bacterial stomach infection, he also took antibiotics, without success.

“The antibiotics didn’t help, and the blood tests didn’t give me any answers,” Lafay said.

By then he had already missed his first race. Further blood tests and consultations with doctors in France followed, with a viral infection considered among the possible causes. Lafay remained in close contact with the team’s medical staff and his coach while his training was continually adjusted around the symptoms.

As the weeks passed, the investigation became more extensive. Specialists examined his heart and lungs and tested for a range of viruses and other possible explanations, but the results offered little clarity.

“All the results say that I’m healthy,” Lafay said. “We still don’t know what is causing all of this.”

The lack of a diagnosis has been particularly difficult because the symptoms have continued to affect even ordinary parts of his life. Lafay says a trip to the supermarket can leave him needing to sleep when he gets home, while spending a few hours with friends or family can be equally draining.

“After a couple of hours, I simply run out of energy,” he said. “I can’t focus on the conversation anymore, my eyes start to feel heavy, and all I can think about is going home to sleep.”

He has spent much of the past six months at home in France. His health has also kept him from returning to China, making it difficult to spend time with his girlfriend.

The difference is just as striking on the bike. Lafay lives between Annecy and Aix les Bains and, when able to exercise, tries to keep his heart rate around 100 to 110 beats per minute. On the climbs around his home, that means riding at little more than walking pace.

“Even the grandpas get away from me,” he said. “Sometimes they recognise me and go, ‘What are you doing?’”

For a while, Lafay turned to hiking because it allowed him to keep the intensity lower than cycling. More recently, even that has become difficult and he now limits himself mainly to short walks, while judging from day to day how much activity his body can tolerate.

For Lafay, the frustration comes not only from being unable to race, but from losing a season in which he felt he had found the right environment to rediscover his best level. The Rockets had placed significant faith in him, and he believed that faith could have produced results.

“The team has been incredible throughout the whole process,” he said. “Together with the doctors and medical staff, we’ve turned over every stone, doing every test we could think of and exploring every possible explanation.”

Tietema has also stressed that Lafay’s absence has nothing to do with motivation or any issue within the team. For now, there is simply no clear diagnosis and no timetable for a return.

“I think all we can do now is wait,” Lafay said.

Despite six months of uncertainty, he remains convinced that his health will eventually improve.

“I know that I will get better one day, and I will be able to ride my bike again, to feel strong on my bike again,” he said. “I know everything will be good one day. I guess I know it’s just a moment. One moment for me to get through.”