Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) is the rider who most resembles Julian Alaphilippe.
Firstly because the two men are the only ones in the peloton to wear a little goatee on their face.
But, alas for him, the winner of the 6th stage of Paris-Nice this year pushed mimicry to experience the same accident as Alaphilippe this season with a fall during the Classique Loire-Atlantique in March which caused him bills a collarbone, a shoulder blade, four ribs and a pneumothorax.
He recounts his recovery and believes that Alaphilippe's is proceeding quite normally.
Two months after an accident like yours or that of Julian Alaphilippe, how can we be able to resume competition?
MATHIEU BURGAUDEAU
.
First, you have to know that the first two weeks, you are unable to move.
We gasp and we have to wait for the ribs to heal.
It hurts.
But, at some point, we feel that we are able to do home-training again, even if it's not at a champion's pace
(smiles)
.
Then, we can hit the road again to work on endurance.
I read that Julian met the same deadlines.
It's normal.
At first, I was very limited by muscle pain.
Which made sense.
When did you realize that you had become a top runner again?
A month and a half after my accident, I redid a scanner and everything was OK.
There, I was really able to work again at high intensity without fear of a relapse.
And the pain was gone.
But to regain my full level, it took me two months.
My level is one thing, but the state of optimal form is another thing.
There, I'm leaving the Tour de Suisse and it's just coming back.
But if we compare your recovery to that of Alaphilippe, who fell just two months ago, it will be difficult for him to be in optimal shape for several more weeks...
Already, I don't know if I should compare myself to Julian
(laughs)
.
I'm sure that if he's at the French Championships, it's because he's stacked the odds on his side.
A lambda runner would have taken longer to come back, but here we are talking about Alaphilippe.
He is someone who knows how to listen to his body perfectly.
But it's true that, for me, he shouldn't be in his optimal state from the start of the Tour.
An accident like mine or that of Alaphilippe, you can't get over it by snapping your fingers.
But he will get better and better on the Tour.
If I meet him on the start line of the French Championships, I think I will know what to talk to him about...