He spoke at length, in English and French, by videoconference in front of about fifteen European journalists.
Julian Alaphilippe begins to enter the hard part of the season with, this Saturday, the Strade Bianche, the Italian classic where he won two years ago.
He will follow, then, with the spring classics of the Ardennes.
The world champion says he is in shape, carried by the emotion of his future fatherhood.
In what mental dispositions do you approach the Strade Bianche?
JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE.
Clearly, I feel good.
But I think I'm not in the same condition as in 2019 when I won the Strade Bianche, two stages over Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo.
It was a great time.
How do you feel physically?
Good and even better and better.
The condition is really good, I'm happy.
I haven't won a race yet, but I haven't done much either.
I am happy with the sensations that come back well.
I am very motivated and obviously I can not wait to get back as soon as possible.
That's good: there are only great races coming up.
I am motivated and I hope it will work out in a short time.
Are you the Strade Bianche favorite?
No.
It's a perfect race for Van der Poel and Van Aert victorious last year.
Van Aert knows himself perfectly well, he is certainly in great shape, although he has not yet raced.
Can you make a Spring Classics campaign look as good as it was in 2019?
There are a lot of races that will follow one another and that I like a lot.
It's going to be a big period until Liège-Bastogne-Liège
(Editor's note: April 25
).
I hope that the conditions will get better and better and that I will get a good result by the end of the classics.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
How are you managing this start of the season with sporting expectations and the announcement of your future fatherhood?
Of course, it is not easy.
But I tried to manage my start to the season as well as possible, to recover well after each race.
I see how I feel and it's going rather in a good way, so I'm not worried at all.
But you have to stay focused, have a good race this Saturday, trying not to hurt myself because it's a race where there are still a lot of crashes.
How do you live to be the most watched rider in the peloton?
We can't do much about that.
You have to run, stay focused on what you have to do.
I think I am not the only runner expected or watched.
Even when I'm being watched, I try to share it with the team.
You have to know how to take advantage of these situations too.
How will you honor this rainbow jersey this season?
For me, the best way to honor this jersey is to stay true to what I have always been, to my way of running, the one with which I just went to get this jersey, by attacking, by being offensive.
Strade Bianche recon 🔥 pic.twitter.com/12Ce4a91Jh
- Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) March 4, 2021
Isn't the best way to show it to win?
Since the start of the season, I have shown the jersey.
But I would like to materialize and win soon.
To show the jersey, to be on the attack, to run offensively, is to honor the jersey for me.
I'm having a lot of fun running at the moment and even more so with this jersey on my shoulders.
How's your hand injury?
There is no worry even if the pain is present.
It takes a long time to go away and it seems normal.
I can smell it, but it doesn't bother me.
With a double bar
tape (Editor's note: the tape)
on the handlebars, everything is fine.
READ ALSO>
Cycling: Thibaut Pinot denounces runners who take corticosteroids in competition
How did you feel when you found out you were going to be a dad?
It was a great emotion, an indescribable sensation that I discovered in my turn.
I lived what all the dads went through and it continues with Marion
(Editor's note: Rousse, his companion)
.
Every day I feel this emotion as I think about it.
For the moment, everything is going well for the mother and we can't wait for everything to continue to move in the right direction.
It is life and a great joy.
Is it important that Marion Rousse is a former cyclist and understands your schedule?
Of course, this is very important.
Marion knows the bike well.
Before being a consultant to comment on the events, she was also on the bike and knows what it is to be in pain, she knows the workouts and the need to have rest between trips.
It makes it easier for her to understand all of this, of course.
It's a good balance to have that relationship.