Two days before the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, the 176 riders are on site in Copenhagen and are stamping with impatience, while carefully scrutinizing the Covid tests which can turn everything upside down.
But world champion Julian Alaphilippe is already far from all that.
Not selected by his Quick Step Alpha Vinyl team, he is not in Denmark.
Both his team and the rider have already explained the reasons.
Tom Steels, one of the sports directors of the Belgian formation, gave a layer this Wednesday, during a videoconference before the big start.
“We made the decision for Julian first, recalls the former Belgian sprinter.
The Tour is the toughest race in the world.
Even when you're at 100%, you don't know on arrival if you'll be able to resort.
We would have liked to see his rainbow jersey on the roads this summer.
If he had raced the Tour, the rainbow jersey would have stayed in the washing machine.
We prefer to be able to see him shine in the races at the end of the year.
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“We must not forget that he suffered a terrible fall
(Editor’s note: in Liège-Bastogne-Liège)
which marked him a lot.
It's not easy to come back after that.
This decision was really very hard to make, one of the hardest we have taken on the Tour, ”added Tom Steels.
Dane Kasper Asgreen will not aim for the yellow jersey
A reverse decision, however, was made for Kasper Asgreen.
The Danish rider, winner of the Tour of Flanders 2021, in poor shape this year (no victory, few places of honor), will be well at the start at home despite a recent fall on June 15, which caused him to leave the Tour de Swiss.
“I no longer suffer, if there was the slightest risk I would not be at the start”, assured the Dane, who however recognizes that he is not 100%.
He who was aiming for a victory in this home time trial for the first stage recognizes that “the yellow jersey on Friday is not a realistic objective.
It takes a huge toll on morale.
My preparation was not good enough”.
But it was deemed sufficient to take the start of a Tour de France that Julian Alaphilippe will follow in front of his TV.
