Wolfpack now crying Alaphilippe suits Milan Sanremo: “Sick first, then a tour of the Basque Country as a starting point for the Walloon classics” | Milan Sanremo

“It saddens me to announce that due to bronchitis and fever, I must quit choosing Quick-Step – Alpha Vinyl for Milan-Sanremo,” Julian Alaphilippe threw a bombshell on a bike this afternoon. The world champion won his first memorial of the season in 2019, but unlike the previous five editions, he will not initially be in Milan. “The day after the Tirreno-Adriatico, Julian got sick,” says athletic director Wilfrid Peters. Sunday evening he was still healthy. He flew to Milan that evening, so he had to make as few transfers as possible for the rest of the week. We were careful, because the virus is everywhere. In Paris-Nice, I saw horsemen crawling to bed in their best condition in the evening, only to have a fever the next day. Unfortunately, this also happened to Julian.”

A huge loss for the match and certainly for his Belgian side who did everything in their power to allow the French player to stand out after all. Especially wait until today to make the selection. “Yesterday morning Julian was on the mend. In Paris-Nice, I noticed that Stybar and Jacobsen with the same symptoms had made a full recovery after two days. We had hoped with Julian for the same scenario. Last night we had an emergency meeting, at which we decided to wait another night for the decision, but Julian was injured With a 38-degree fever again this morning,” Peters sighed.

Alaphilippe fever and health shake does not allow racing. After a somewhat unknown Tirreno Adriatico – certainly compared to 2021 and 2019 – there were already some question marks behind his form, but the Frenchman felt he was ready for battle. “Because of the hard falls at Strade Bianche, Tirreno was a tough race for me, but I could feel my legs getting better every day,” Alaphilippe said.

They also had that in Butterfly in Quick-Step – Alpha Vinyl. “Sunday evening I had a phone call with Klaas Ludewick, our captain in Italy. Klaas told me that Julian was growing every day in Tirreno. We believed in Julian for Sanremo. Although he has yet to win such an important one-day race This year, he can always do more,” Peters notes, referring to the last World Cup.

This buildup is now broken down to the top form again. It’s not a sign of hope for the rest of his spring. “The Flemish classics were never on his programme. He’s aiming firmly for the second part of spring. Hopefully he’ll recover quickly so he doesn’t lose many training days,” says Peters. His next race is usually the Basque Country Tour as a starting point for the Walloon Classics. “That’s still the plan, but he has to get sick first.”

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