Julian Alaphilippe: the curse continues

He also skipped the Tour de France

Julian Alaphilippe’s no season continues. After missing the Tour de France, the defending world champion was forced to withdraw from the Tour of Wallonia.

The French cyclist tested positive for Covid and so cannot complete the race where he had just returned to victory in the first stage. A new stop in this 2022 for Alaphilippe, who in addition to the Tour, has missed major classics such as Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. For him this year a bad crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

“I am sorry to leave the team,” Alaphilippe wrote on social, “I hope to be better in a few days. My condition is good and I want to come back soon and be a protagonist in the season finale.” The Frenchman will now want to focus on the Vuelta and then attempt the rainbow trio at the World Championships scheduled in Australia.