Julian Alaphilippe will not see the last three stages of the Tour de France live on TV. From July 23, 48 hours before the arrival of the Grande Boucle on the Champs-Elysées, the double world champion will be in the saddle. Absent from the Tour because not sufficiently recovered from his fall in the spring, Julian Alaphilippe will be at the start of the Tour de Wallonie. It will be his first appearance in a stage race since the Tour of the Basque Country in April 2022.
“The Tour de Wallonie this year is a very difficult race. From the first day, the peloton tackles the Mur de Huy, which we know from the Flèche Wallonne, but the other Ardennes stages will be just as demanding”, confides in a press release Wilfried Peeters, the sporting director of the Quick team. -Step, of which the Frenchman will be the leader on the Belgian roads. “We are happy to have Julian in this race, because he will return to competition and prepare for the second part of the season. He can fight for a stage win because he will have the support of many strong and motivated guys. Regarding the general classification, we will see how far he can get there, but our main objective here is to obtain a victory” continues Wilfried Peeters.
The Tour de Wallonie, a race which takes place in 5 stages, takes place from 23 to 27 July. After him, Julian Alaphilippe planned to compete in the Vuelta (August 19-September 11) but above all the world championships in Australia to defend his jersey, in September, and the Tour of Lombardy in October.