Real French hope at 31 for a final victory in the Tour de France, Julian Alaphilippe
has just ended the hopes of his fans. Indeed, in an interview given to The Team
this Wednesday, January 10, 2024, Marion Rousse’s companion announced that he should not take part in the 2024 edition of La Grande Boucle.
Information partly revealed the day before by the manager of his Soudal Quick-Step training, Patrick Lefèvre. The latter indeed announced that the double world champion would very probably be “absent from the Tour de France”taking the opportunity to point out the “not always smart way to run” of Julian Alaphilippe. Despite this “package” announced for La Grande Boucle, Marion Rousse’s companion should still take part in a few classics during the year. With in particular a first participation in the Tour of Italy.
Also see: Marion Rousse: her darling superstar, Julian Alaphilippe, soon to be unemployed?
No Tour de France for Julian Alaphilippe, but a first Giro
“Doing the Giro had been on my mind for a while. The question was when I was going to participate and this winter when we established the program, I said: ‘Why not this year?’ Between Australia, the classics and the Giro, I wanted a change. It was my first idea and when I mentioned it”he told the team before revealing that “Patrick (Lefèvre) immediately confirmed to me that he did not want to see me as a teammate of Remco (Evenepoel) on the Tour.” “It’s not my role, nor my value to do that”he added.
In order to put an end to rumors and possible disagreements with his manager, the winner of six stages of the Tour de France assures that he will not it’s not about “a non-selection and it’s not a punishment at all”. French fans will still have hope of meeting him in July with a possible participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
RF