The manager of the Quick-Step team indicated on Sunday that he had not yet planned a solution in the event of a last-minute replacement for the Frenchman on the Tour de France.
Article written by
Posted
Reading time : 1 min.
The possible participation of Julian Alaphilippe in the Tour de France “relief of the time trial” and no plan B is yet planned in the event of the Frenchman’s withdrawal, said Quick-Step team manager Patrick Lefevere on Sunday May 1.
In his weekly column in the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, the Flemish leader indicates that “in the most optimistic scenario, Julian will get back on his bike in mid-May. He will then have six weeks left before the start of the Tour”. The world champion fell heavily on April 24, 60 kilometers from the finish of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He was hospitalized, suffering in particular from a hemopneumothorax and multiple fractures (ribs and scapula).
Important fall on Liège-Bastogne-Liège! 1/3 of the peloton went ashore before the Col du Rosier. The world champion, Julian Alaphilippe, was particularly caught in this fall.
▶️ Follow the live: https://t.co/oLYenvlW5p pic.twitter.com/BUVzGNKR1W
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) April 24, 2022
“For him to be able to participate in the Tour, his recovery will have to go perfectly. The recovery time of a pneumothorax is still unknown”had said, earlier this week, Tom Steels, one of the sporting directors of the “Wolfpack”.
“A Tour de France with or without him makes a big difference, especially commercially, but also sportingly”, wrote Lefevere in Het Nieuwsblad. The manager excludes in any case that the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, recent winner of the Doyenne des Classiques, replaces his teammate on the Grande Boucle.
The latter confirmed in the week that he wanted to respect his program decided at the start of the season, namely to focus on a single big tour this year: the Tour of Spain.