It can't be easy to see the future coming and not have the legs to keep up with it. In its own way, the same thing happened when Alaphilippe began to make his way alongside Philippe Gilbert and then took the limelight from him. It ended up that, despite their friendship, the great Belgian was forced or preferred to change teams: he won the 2019 Roubaix and moved to Lotto-Soudal. Some think that Julian's path in the Belgian squadron took the same direction.
Alaphilippe and the Poggio
The future is in the legs and in the ambition of Remco Evenepoel, while the French chases his best selfEven knowing that the last year went to waste due to the Liège defeat, Alaphilippe doesn't hide the fact that he would have preferred a different start to 2023. Sanremo was the first target circled in redLefevere was waiting for a signal. And what bothers the Frenchman most is that he didn't even manage to try.
«What I missed most was a good placing at the foot of the Poggio – explained the leader of the Soudal-Quick Step – it's a certainty, because legs felt good all day. Even at the end the sensations were perfect. When Pogacar, Van der Poel and Van Aert accelerated at the Poggio, I was not where I should have been.My companions and I got a bit lost in the last few meters before the start of the climb. We'd had some difficulties on Cipressa for the same reasons. At Sanremo you only have a chance if you have the right position on the Poggio».
Do you think you could have followed the best otherwise?
The legs were good. At the foot of the Poggio, Bahrain and then the UAE they made a great pace and my reaction was late. I just had time to go back up and they had already left.. Nothing to say about Van der Poel: he deservedly won. In my case, I wouldn't speak of disappointment, but rather of frustration for not having given my bestI could have done better than that, because I was sure it wouldn't end in a bunch sprint. Now I have to move on.
This year you decided to return to Flanders, why?
Sanremo has scored the beginning of the important period of the classics and it was still nice to have good feelings, even if the result was not up to par. Now I will focus on the next races in Belgium, starting from HarelbekeI know from experience that everything will happen very quickly. So far, I've only won one race at the beginning of the season, a nice one but a small one. The goal is to win a big race and Flanders suits me.It will be difficult, but in the next few weeks I will run a lot, only road races, and I intend to give it my all.
On the finish line in Tortoreto, only Roglic beat you to Tirreno.
I wanted to win, but above all I wanted to race the way I like to do. I wanted to see if I'm still capable of making this kind of effort and fighting for the victory.I had confirmation that this is the case and this did me good, especially for my mind.
Is it difficult to get your job back?
Last year I never ran at my best level and I feel like I'm missing that feeling a bit, to get back to giving my all in the most difficult racesIt's like I'm a year behind. The Tirreno week was one of the first times I felt like I'd found that level again. The Osimo stage was very tough, I hadn't been so hard in a long time.But I didn't give up and in the final I wasn't with the best (he finished 14th, 22″ behind Roglic, ed.).
What will you do from here to Harelbeke?
What I did between Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo. Recovery, light training, and some family time.
