Julian Alaphilippe confirmed his aptitude for the Tour of Flanders on his ill-fated debut within the autumn of 2020, when he discovered himself within the profitable break with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert solely to clip a bike and crash out of the race.
The Frenchman’s relationship with the Ronde has by no means actually recovered. The next Spring, he was comparatively subdued as his teammate Kasper Asgreen claimed victory. Final yr, one other crash compromised his race, and he rolled him an nameless 51st.
Alaphilippe leads the road once more for Soudal-QuickStep this yr alongside Asgreen, however they discover themselves firmly within the place of outsiders after a Spring marketing campaign that has fallen far in need of expectations. The Frenchman recognised as a lot at Soudal headquarters in Turnhout on Friday.
“I’m coming with the ambition of attaining a end result,” Alaphilippe informed RMC radio. “Possibly I can think about myself an outsider, however above all I think about myself a rider who has to offer his all and go for the absolute best end result. I do not need to place myself within the hierarchy of the present riders, I do not care about all that.
“I do know that the extent could be very excessive, and there are riders who’re very, very, very robust. There’s one large favorite, Mathieu van der Poel, however we’re concentrating on what we have. I do know we’ll must adapt as a result of we’re removed from being the favourites. We will discover it laborious to win, however we’ll give it our all.”
Though Alaphilippe positioned ninth at Milan-San Remo two weeks in the past, he made little impression in his two outings on the cobbles so far, at E3 Saxo Traditional and Dwars door Vlaanderen. Final weekend, in the meantime, Soudal-QuickStep supervisor Patrick Lefevere recommended that he had erred in tying Alaphilippe, Asgreen and Yves Lampaert to their present contracts.
That critique was gentle, in fact, compared to a few of Lefevere’s different jabs at Alaphilippe over the previous yr or so. In an interview with Humo printed final month, Lefevere had made fairly extra bracing feedback about Alaphilippe, suggesting that the blame for his below-par shows lay along with his way of life and his relationship along with his companion, the Tour de France Femmes director Marion Rousse.
The most recent race content material, interviews, options, critiques and professional shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
When Soudal-QuickStep held a press convention forward of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad later that week, it was decreed by the staff that Alaphilippe wouldn’t converse in regards to the matter. By then, Rousse had responded to Lefevere’s feedback on social media, calling on the Belgian to “present a bit extra class.” On Friday, Alaphilippe downplayed the concept that he had been affected by Lefevere’s criticism.
“I actually managed to detach myself from it as a lot as doable, like I typically do,” Alaphilippe informed RMC. “I used to be extra irritated about Marion, who did not ask for this and who would not like being concerned in any respect. She did not like being concerned in issues like that, which had been pointless and made no sense. Some issues are purported to be private, and it’s kind of annoying when it retains popping out. However for me, no, I’ve indifferent myself from it. I do not care, in reality.
“The one factor I can do is do my job nicely, and I’ve been doing it very nicely, in addition to I can, for a few years. As long as I really feel like that, I do not care about the remainder. What issues to me is that my son is in good well being and that I do my job to the perfect of my means.”
Lefevere, in the meantime, was requested about his criticism of Alaphilippe in an interview printed in Saturday’s version of L’Équipe, and he as soon as once more claimed that his authentic feedback in Dutch had been taken out of context when translated.
“I do not need to return over this episode. I simply need folks to know that I too am shocked that I can not say what I believe. And never nearly Julian,” stated Lefevere, later including: “The issue is that you simply French, just like the English, you don’t take the difficulty to translate what I say correctly.”
Each Lefevere and Alaphilippe are in settlement, nevertheless, that Soudal-QuickStep have some extent to show on the Tour of Flanders on Sunday. The staff has received the race eight occasions over time, however they know that they’ve all of it to do that time round after a making an attempt cobbled Classics season up to now.
“It’s nonetheless an goal of mine to win the Tour of Flanders sometime,” Alaphilippe stated. “However once I have a look at the previous couple of weeks, I’ve the impression that it’s a dream that’s going additional and additional away. However you at all times must imagine. We’re right here to attempt to win the race and we’re going to offer our most.”
