Julian Alaphilippe begins his season this Thursday on the Tour de la Provence, the race co-organized by his companion Marion Rousse, the mother of his little Enzo.
On friendly ground, therefore, and where last year he finished second behind the Colombian Ivan Sosa (Ineos).
And yet, the double world champion is about to leap into the unknown.
Just before the start, Alaphilippe learned that his two teammates Kasper Asgreen and Davide Ballerini, positive for Covid, had had to forfeit.
“Result, we will start only with five runners, where the others will be seven, he laments.
In addition, Kasper could have aimed for victory during the prologue on Thursday.
And Davide was our asset for the sprint finishes.
That's a shame.
We are going to do what we can, but the Covid is definitely weighing on everyone's life.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the priority
And the rainbow jersey shouldn't show up in great shape either.
“Nearly three weeks ago, I had the die, he admits.
I had to stop for a whole week.
Which made me miss the last group internship in Portugal.
So I'm a little behind in my preparation.
So I'm not expecting much, although I may be better than expected.
In any case, it's the first time in my career that I'm going to start my season with a time trial.
It's very strange even if it won't be very long (a 7.1 km prologue).
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Hello from (not so) sunny Provence 😃 pic.twitter.com/y8CCFmcQL1
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) February 9, 2022
For his return, Alaphilippe therefore only wants to find the rhythm of the race “and make these violent efforts that you can never produce in training.
But he decided to let the excitement of the rainbow jersey take over less.
Last year, he could not imagine taking the start of a race without showing it.
This time, he claims to have gained in wisdom and hindsight.
This year, he does not want to shine immediately in France.
His first real objectives will pass through Italian and then Belgian roads.
"The Italian block in March with Tirreno-Adriatico, the Strade Bianche (Editor's note: a one-day race in Tuscany which he adores) and Milan-San Remo which he already put in his pocket in 2019. In April, he will try to win a fourth Flèche Wallonne but, above all, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the monument of cycling where he has failed with a breath the last two years.
“This second world title, I know how to savor it”
But should we really believe in the new reasoned discourse of Alaphilippe?
He whose great strength is precisely to run on instinct without ever calculating.
He is nevertheless aware that if his past season ended in the apotheosis of a second coronation, the birth of his child a few days before the start of the 2021 Tour cost him in nerve impulses and lucidity.
“Let's say that last year, my season was in my image, he admits.
There, this second world title, I know how to savor it.
But on the Tour, I will again repeat what I always say: we will not have a team to play for the general classification.
But that won't detract from our ambitions.
Like every year, what will count therefore is not to land well in Provence.
But to arrive happy later in Paris.
