Tour of Flanders: with his 70th place Julian Alaphilippe is sad to see

“The ambition to achieve a result”, these were the words of Julian Alaphilippe before the start of the Tour of Flanders, the second Monument of the cycling season. A race won by the big favorite Mathieu van der Poel after more than 6 hours of effort in catastrophic conditions. “It’s the hardest Tour of Flanders I’ve done, one of the most difficult races of my career,” he breathed. It was just a matter of survival. I was so exhausted that my eyes were closed for the last 20 kilometers, Van der Poel continues. I was exhausted upon arrival. I had just enough strength to lift my bike onto the line. »

15 days after his fine 9th place obtained in Milan San Remo, Alaphilippe could hope for a new place in the top 10 this Sunday on the Tour of Flanders. Questioned by RMC Sport earlier in the week, the rider from the Belgian team Soudal Quick-Step spoke about his possible outsider status: “There are a lot of outsiders. Maybe I am one, yes, but I come with the ambition to achieve a result. So maybe yes, I can consider myself an outsider, but above all I consider myself a runner who must give the maximum and seek the best possible result” he declared. Missed.

The Frenchman crossed the finish line in 70th place, more than 7 minutes behind van der Poel. Not sure if this is the “best possible result” mentioned and desired by Alaphilippe. A result which coincides with the bad patch that the runner has been going through for two years now.

Long gone are the years when the 31-year-old rider shone on the roads of the Tour de France with his yellow jersey. A tunic worn 14 days in a row in 2019.

For two years, the Frenchman, marked by injuries, has struggled to regain his best level. In the turmoil, he won a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2023 and a few second-tier races. Not very prestigious victories for a rider of his caliber, winner of Milan-San Remo (2019), Flèche Wallonne (2018, 2019, 2021), San Sebastián (2018), world champion twice (in 2020 and 2021 ) or even victorious in six stages of the Tour de France.

Lacking results, the Frenchman suffered fierce criticism from his sports director Patrick Lefévère at the end of February. In particular, he questioned his lifestyle: “As you get older, you have to take care of yourself more. You have to train harder. I think there were too many parties and too much alcohol at his house. » The latter also took advantage of the runner's wife Marion Rousse, with whom he has shared his life for 4 years. “Julian is under the control of Marion Rousse,” he declared.

Sunday will take place Paris-Roubaix. If the presence, or not, of the French rider has not been announced, the latter had expressed his desire to participate last February during the second episode of “The Wolfpack Howls”, the podcast of his team Soudal Quick- Step: “I asked the team in December if I could do it. I would love to ride Paris-Roubaix once in my career.”

The French runner wants to tame “the Hell of the North” (nickname given to Paris-Roubaix) and its multiple cobbled sectors, despite an athletic profile which does not correspond to the racing conditions. “I think I'm too light, that I'll suffer, but I'd still like to do it. It's the story of cycling, we know it's going to hurt but we love doing it. “, he confided last February.

Cobbled sectors approaching, a level on the bike criticized and internal conflict between his manager and his wife, the future of Julian Alaphilippe does not look easy.