Who is Victor Langellotti, the first WorldTour rider from Monaco?

Plenty of WorldTour riders call Monaco home these days, but only one of them carries a Monegasque passport. Victor Langellotti is a rarity, a professional cyclist born and bred in the principality. Indeed, when he signed with Burgos-BH in 2018, he was believed to be the first Monaco-born pro rider since Laurent Devalle and Albert Vigna in the 1920s.

On joining Ineos last winter, in any case, Langellotti became the first Monegasque to earn a contract with a WorldTour team, and the feat was all the more remarkable given that he turned 30 this year. 

The transfer was certainly an unexpected one, but Langellotti has quietly gone about his business since stepping up to the top flight. In Karpacz on Tuesday afternoon, he secured his best result since joining Ineos, placing a surprising third on the tough finale to stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne.

“We are only two Monegasque professionals, but obviously there are much more riders living there,” Langellotti smiled in the mixed zone afterwards. His compatriot Antoine Berlin rides with Continental team BIKE AID, however, and so Langellotti is, in reality, the lone representative at this exalted level. “I'm very proud,” he said. 

Langellotti’s teammate Michal Kwiatowski led the front group most of the way up the stiff climb to the line and the initial intention was that Magnus Sheffield would contest the win. Instead, however, it was Langellotti who proved the strongest of the Ineos cohort and he sprinted to third behind stage winner Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R) and Mattias Vacek (Lidl-Trek).

“The good thing is that we have a very strong team with Kwiatko and Magnus, so we have many cards to play,” Langellotti said as rain fell gently over the canopy of the mixed zone. “We planned to do a hard pace with Kwiatko and Magnus, but at the end I could play my card also and that’s good for the collective.”

Being part of this particular collective had been Langellotti’s ambition since he was a teenager. Langellotti’s father Umberto, an Italian native now president of the Monegasque Cycling Federation, cited the Grand Départ of the 2009 Tour de France in Monaco as a key moment in the development of cycling in the country. “The effect was enormous. We didn't have a cycling school but then everything accelerated,” he told L’Équipe last year.

Victor Langellotti was 14 at the time, when the Tour visited Monaco again in 2024, he recalled the thrill of shaking Alberto Contador’s hand at the presentation as a teenager. As Langellotti progressed through the ranks, however, he looked increasingly to the nascent Team Sky for inspiration.

“Joining Ineos was a dream come true, because I grew up with Team Sky as the most dominant team when I was in the junior and under-23 categories,” he said. “It was my ultimate goal and dream to be part of the team.”

Still, it didn’t seem very likely for much of Langellotti’s career. Although a solid showing in the Giro della Valle d’Aosta as an under-23 had reportedly drawn attention from Matxin Joxean Fernandez, then a talent scout for QuickStep, he wound up turning professional in Spain with the Burgos-BH squad.

The Pro Continental outfit offered Langellotti a solid diet of races – he would ride the Vuelta a España in 2022 – promotion to WorldTour looked a far-off dream for much of his tenure. Stage wins at the Volta a Portugal in 2022 and the Tour of Turkey in 2023 served as a calling card, however, and he was picked up by Ineos on a two-year deal last winter.

“To be honest, I always believed I could make it to the WorldTour,” Langellotti said, though he acknowledged the gulf between the two levels is substantial. 

“It’s a big, big step forward. The level of professionalism in the team is absolutely crazy. Obviously the expectations are much higher, but we have access to all the knowledge of the staff members and the experience of the riders. 

“On a day like today, racing with Kwiatko makes a huge difference because he knows everything about racing – and obviously here, he knows the country too. It makes a big, big difference. It helps you a lot and it makes you grow way faster.”

Langellotti’s programme this season included the UAE Tour, Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Suisse, and he showed sure signs of finding his feet at Ineos by the Tour of Norway in May, where he placed second overall behind Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike).

Now, Langellotti lies third overall at the Tour de Pologne, eight seconds down on Lapeira. He was reluctant to set himself a target for the remainder of the week but he admitted he was keen to see where he goes next.

“Honestly, I take it day by day,” he said. “Even though I’m already 30, so I’m not young, I’m still growing every day so I’m also discovering myself how and where I can perform the most. I’m still learning a lot, so I try to learn as much as I can from guys like Magnus and Kwiatko.”