In the middle, we call it "making a sun": falling over your handlebars.
On the famous Italian classic of the Strade Bianchi, renowned for its gravelly white roads, Julian Alaphilippe had a great mishap a hundred kilometers from the finish.
While he was rather well placed at the head of the peloton, the double French world champion suffered a fall caused both by a gust of wind, which unbalanced him, and also by the loss of control of his a rider from the Alpecin team, just in front of him.
The impressive images of the sun by Julian Alaphilippe.
The world champion is gone.
#StradeBIanche pic.twitter.com/xsg0EnZcwR
— The Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) March 5, 2022
Alaphilippe took full force from this rider's bike before flying off head first.
Fortunately, his "spin" was large enough that he didn't land directly on his head, but rather on his back.
Behind him, almost half of the peloton was caught up in this fall.
One of the favorites in the race, Tiejs Benoot, was thus forced to retire.
Visibly unscathed from any serious injury, Julian Alaphilippe, on the other hand, managed to leave after regaining his senses.
But he then fell one minute behind the peloton, which continued on its way.
