A small turn and then goes away! Tested positive for Covid-19, Julian Alaphilippe was forced to forfeit the rest of the Tour de Wallonie synonymous with his return to the international circuit after the terrible fall he suffered during Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April (three fractured ribs and pneumothorax).
At the end of June, he had taken 13th place in the French championship but had not been deemed fit to compete in the Tour de France. The announcement of this package was communicated by his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl training on social networks this Monday noon.
His team does not communicate, however, on the condition of his runner but wishes him “a speedy recovery, Loulou”.
It is undoubtedly a setback for the double world champion who was doing his recovery race after three weeks of training in Italy. This recovery had ideally started with a success – the 39th of his career – during the first stage of this Tour of Wallonia which ended at the legendary Mur de Huy on Saturday. A short-lived happiness since the next day, he hadn’t been able to follow the best in a hilly stage between Verviers and Herve. “I just didn’t have the legs,” he explained. Alaphilippe was in 24th place overall, 8 min 09 sec behind his Australian teammate Robert Stannard.
A new pitfall for “Alaf” in this very chaotic year 2022: at the beginning of March he had already fallen during the Strade Bianche in Tuscany, before having to forfeit Milan-San-Remo and the Tour of Flanders due to bronchitis.
This abandonment should not, however, call into question his participation in the Clasica San Sebastian which starts on July 30. The program for the second half of the season for the 30-year-old Frenchman promises to be busy with the Tour of Spain, from August 19 to September 11, the 2022 World Championship at the end of September in Wollongong, Australia, where he will aim for the pass of three, then the Tour of Lombardy in October.