2023-08-06 17:12:00
The two best French chances at the World Road Cycling Championships on Sunday in Glasgow gave up about 85 km from the finish.
By GA with AFP Julian Alaphilippe, hope of French cycling. © DAVID PINTENS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP Published on 08/06/2023 at 5:12 p.m.
Christophe Laporte and Julian Alaphilippe, considered the two best French chances at the World Road Cycling Championships in Glasgow, unfortunately gave up about 85 km from the finish, according to information provided by the management. Their withdrawal from the race is a disappointment for the French team and the supporters, who were hoping for good results in this competition.
Laporte, the reigning vice-world champion, was among the outsiders for the world title. But the Jumbo-Visma runner was delayed by a mechanical problem at the worst moment, when Belgians and Danes forced the pace in the lead, a hundred kilometers from the finish, on the very technical street circuit of Glasgow. The Varois lost more than a minute in the affair.
Double world champion in 2020 and 2021, Julian Alaphilippe, who had attacked when he arrived on the circuit at mid-race before returning to the line, let himself be picked up to wait for him. But the two French never managed to catch up with the small peloton of favorites who rushed at full speed on the labyrinthine circuit of 14.3 km with 48 turns to be covered ten times. Seeing that they were no longer able to play for the medal, they stopped the charges about 85 kilometers from the finish.
#Christophe #Laporte #Julian #Alaphilippe #give