We should not expect much from Julian Alaphilippe at the Tour de la Provence, at least that’s what the world champion says on the eve of his season debut.
“I missed the second team internship in Portugal because of a bad cold, which kept me off the bike for a week,” he says. “My preparation went well apart from two or three weeks ago when I was sick”.
“I had a cold, and I wasn’t able to go to the training camp in Portugal with the team and that was an important week for preparing the season. But now I’ve recovered, and although I’m certainly not at 100 per cent, I’m very motivated to start the season in France and with the rainbow jersey again.”
“No, not at all, and that’s why I certainly won’t be at 100 per cent here,” he said.
“Maybe it will go well and I’ll be better than I think, but I had to spend a week off the bike and I couldn’t do a training camp that was very important to round off my preparation. I worked well, that’s sure, but I’m a bit behind, so to speak. Still, I’ll try to use this race to make efforts and prepare for the year ahead.
“I don’t have special ambitions here, I just want to get my bearings over the four days of racing, but there’s a good field, riders with races already in their legs. There’s no stress, I just want to enjoy it.”
