It was a real blow that the Tour de France lovers received yesterday. Expected as one of the attractions of this new edition, Julian Alaphilippe was not retained by his team, who considered him too physically limited. It must be said that the double world champion in road cycling has come a long way. At the end of April, he suffered a terrible fall during the Belgian classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège. If he miraculously comes out of it, the 30-year-old cyclist is really affected and despite his race against time to get back in shape on the Grande Boucle, he hasn’t managed to win his bet.
The champion will therefore remain at rest for the next three weeks, unlike his partner, Marion Rousse. Consultant for France Télévisions, she will follow the competition with her expert eye, but not only since she is also director of the Tour de France Women. A double role that could take her a lot of time and she has therefore decided to make the most of her last moments as a threesome before the big start. On her Instagram account, she posted two beautiful photos in her story where you can see the beautiful blonde of 30 years during a walk in nature.
Three-way trip for disappointed, but lucid Julian
“Last day before leaving for Denmark without my men”, she writes visibly moved to leave Julian and Nino for several days. A beautiful walk that continued, hand in hand with the still adorable little Nino (photos to be found in the slideshow).
Very disappointed to have to stay at home, Julian Alaphilippe spoke to The Team after the announcement of his package and the rider was lucid. “I feel tired, diminished. I don’t know if I could have been competitive over three weeks. Doing the Tour without being at 100% is not a gift”he explains before concluding: “On the Tour, I couldn’t have afforded to stay warm in the peloton. I couldn’t bear to spend my July suffering, to just be there because it makes people happy. I would have liked to be efficient but I’m too limited“.