Some more experienced riders would say that if someone falls so often you can't call it bad luck. And in fact, looking at Julian Alaphilippe's singular balance sheet, the feeling that something is wrong comes over you. The Return should have put him back on track after the previous one, instead the Frenchman left the race on a stretcher and with a grimace, for the blow to the right shoulder after a rather harmless fall, 65 kilometers to the finish line in Cabo de Gata. Things come to mind Ballan's words some time ago about his constant movement on the bike, although it was frankly difficult to foresee that in crossing the village of Carboneras his front wheel slipped on the exit of a corner while he was among the leaders of the launch group. Although other riders have reported that the road at that point was slippery and full of gravel.
Fractures excluded
After being I sat on the asphalt for a long time and feared I had a broken collarbone, the world champion was taken to the hospital in Almeria to undergo x-rays. In the evening, the team Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl released a rather reassuring press release about the Frenchman's health.
«The tests revealed that Julian Alaphilippe has dislocated his right shoulder., while X-rays excluded fractures."
The world champion flew to Belgium yesterday to undergo further tests at Herentals Hospital which he knows well, where they fixed the broken arm he had after the fall at the Flanders two years ago. No time limit has been set for his recovery..
Patrick's Call
The team had already The Frenchman's presence at the Vuelta was stigmatized by Patrick Lefevere's wordsThe team manager had said, jokingly but perhaps not, that one hopes that the world champion had gone to Spain not so much to prepare for the World Cup as much as to help the team.
«In the best case scenario – he said yesterday – he will be back in the saddle in a fortnight. Too tight a time limit for the World Cup, but he could be ready for the Giro di Lombardia and the Italian races. This year Julian has seen more hospitals than racesThe impact on Remco will be enormous. Julian was his providential man, the one who had kept him safe until now."
Clearly the French hope to see him on a bike first, precisely for the World Cup Wollongong which will be run on September 25th. But certainly the number of his accidents raises some questions and if nothing else, it recalls the curse of the rainbow jersey, which was kept discreetly at bay in the first year.
A truly black series
The black series has begun at the Strade Bianche with the spectacular fall caused by the wind. A few days later, due to bronchitis, Alaphilippe had to give up the Milan-Sanremo. Then she came the terrible fall during the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, when the Frenchman, launching himself into a very fast descent, fell into a ditch, suffering a fracture of the scapula, some ribs and a hemopneumothorax.
He remained out until the French Championships in Cholet in June, when Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl preferred not to select him for the Tour de FranceThe blow was hard, but his form, which had already seemed lackluster at the Vuelta, was not up to such a tough challenge.
Alaphilippe has thus decided to focus on the Vuelta to arrive well at the World Championships and then finish at the Lombardia, but He had to withdraw from the Tour de Wallonie at the end of July after testing positive for Covid..
The chase for the World Cup
Having reached the Vuelta almost by miracle, Alaphilippe had thought he had overcome his problems, instead something went wrong again.
“Losing Julian is a great loss,” Evenepoel said immediately after the news. he was in great shape and was doing an outstanding job for meI'm sure my other teammates will be able to do their job well and help me in this challenge."
At this point the bet for the world champion is linked to the world championshipsWill he be able to recover in time and find an adequate level of condition? The feeling this time is that the donut could actually work without the hole.
