Monaco is famous as a favoured second residence for many of Europe's sportsmen and women, many of them bike riders, but its own cycling scene is nothing as famous. However, with Victor Langellotti (Ineos Grenadiers) that might just be about to change.
One of just two racers for the tiny European state in the men's peloton, Langellotti raced for seven years with Spanish Pro team Burgos-BH, prior to getting his big break at 29 with Ineos Grenadiers, with his first season at WorldTour level coming in 2025.
So far, Langellotti has produced some good but not spectacularly great results, most notably taking a second place overall at the Tour of Norway behind Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike). However, the long-awaited next step finally came on Tuesday at the Tour de Pologne on the summit finish of Karpacz.
After Ineos plan 'A' with Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski and USA's Magnus Sheffield fizzled out, Langellotti forged his own path to finish third behind stage winner Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Lidl-Trek's Mathias Vacek.
Historically speaking, the result was nowhere near the Tour de France participations in the 1920s for Monaco's only two previous pros, Laurent Devalle and Albert Vigna, nearly a century ago. And even within the modern peloton, it's not necessarily the most striking memorable result.
However, his third place marked a notable step up for Langellotti as the 30-year-old strives to make his way in the WorldTour, and it is also the first top-three finish in that category for a Monaco rider ever.
"We have only two professionals, so I'm very proud to represent my country in WorldTour races," Langellotti told reporters afterwards. The other is Antoine Berlin, who races for the Bike Aid Conti' squad.
"I'm taking it on the day by day in this category. I'm 30, so I'm not young, but I'm still growing every day, discovering how and where I can perform the most. And I'm trying to learn as much as possible as Kwiato [Kwiatkowski.]"
After signing for Ineos, Langellotti recognised that moving from Burgos had been a massive moment in his career. With Burgos, he took seventh on one stage of the Vuelta a España in 2022 in his lone Grand Tour participation to date, and that year he also became the first-ever rider from Monaco to lead a GT classification, when he briefly headed the mountains ranking. But at Pologne he recognised that racing for the British squad placed him in a very different league.
"It was a big change for me, and I've been racing a lot more with Ineos, too. But I think the higher number of race days I've done helps you to improve a lot, and step by step I'm showing it with good results," he argued.
"To be honest it was a big, big step signing for Ineos, the level of professionalism in the team is absolutely crazy, the expectations are much higher, too. But we have access to everything like the knowledge and experience of the other riders.
"A guy like Kwiato makes such a huge difference because he knows everything about racing, he knows the course and the countries, and all that makes you grow way faster."
It so happened that on the day Langellotti took a major step up in his career in Pologne, Kwiatkowski formed a key part of the strategy for the final climb at Karpacz, too. But in any case Langellotti said it was always possible for him to have a crack at winning as well.
"Sheffield was the plan, but the good thing is that we have a very strong team with Kwiato and Magnus so we have many cards to play, including mine," he pointed out.
Langellotti's performance, pushing him into third overall as well, will make him a rider to watch for the rest of Pologne. But regardless of what happens from heron, the son of Umberto Langellotti, Monaco's cycling federation president, had the confirmation that he can ride with the best, too.
"I always believed I could make it but of course when I was a junior and U23, Sky were the most dominant team," he said.
"So it's a dream come true to sign for them and be part of the team. To be able to compete with these guys and [help] give the squad a good image - I'm really enjoying that, every day."
