According to Thomas Voeckler, the absence of Julian Alaphilippe at the European Championships on Sunday is not linked to his physical state, last weekend, to the world championships in Rwanda.
Thomas Voeckler will have waited for the last moment. If most of his alter ego had announced their list for the European championships which take place all this week between Drôme and Ardèche, the coach of the French team delivered the names of the eight happy elected officials only this Tuesday, five days from online race.
Present in Rwanda for the Worlds, Pavel Sivakov, Paul Seixas, Julien Bernard and Valentin Paret-Peintre will chain with the European Championships, which Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Nicolas Prodhomme, Alex Baudin and Romain Grégoire will also compete.
“If I waited to announce the list, it is because in a world championship, it can happen a lot. He could have had runners who do not feel well and I should have made choices ”, explained Thomas Voeckler at the microphone of the L’Equipe chain. Forced to abandon from the first kilometers of racing, Julian Alaphilippe returned sick to Rwanda, which seemed to explain his absence from the list.
Julian Alaphilippe retained by his team
But to believe Thomas Voeckler, it is not. “Julian Alaphilippe was sick at the world championships, but in any case, he was not available for the European Championships. I had the information by his team upstream ”he said that the native of Saint-Amand-Montrond is notably expected from the Tour de Lombardie on October 11.
In the absence of Julian Alaphilippe, it is Romain Grégoire who should play the role of leader. The recent winner of the Tour of Britain will have some solid arguments to be asserted even if the competition promises to be noted. “It is clear that the Pogacar, Vingegaard, in eight -kilometer ribs, are better than the runners I have, but I do not give up in front of runners like that. We are going to combat, it’s clear and clear “he said, adding: “The runners are hungry. I brought fresh meat to this collective. We have guys walking. “
