The reigning double world champion slipped in a turn within the peloton 64 kilometers from the finish of the stage run between Alhama de Murcia and Cabo de Gata, in Andalusia.
Taken on a stretcher to the nearest hospital, the 30-year-old puncher suffered from a dislocation of his right shoulder, his team, Quick-Step, said in a press release published at the start of the evening. X-rays do not show a fracture, but new exams are scheduled for Thursday in Belgium.
The Belgian team’s medical statement indicates that it is too early to assess the unavailability of the Frenchman, who is supposed to defend his rainbow jersey in less than a month, on September 25, in Wollongong, Australia.
This new disappointment adds to an already long list this season.
Alaphilippe first fell during the Strade Bianche in early March in Tuscany, then suffered from bronchitis which forced him to withdraw from Milan-Sanremo, one of his favorite races, and from the Tour of Flanders.
It was on April 24 during Liège-Bastogne-Liège that he suffered the hardest blow of fate: an impressive fall and a terrible shock against a tree. Balance sheet, a pneumothorax, two broken ribs and a fracture to a shoulder blade, which required a long hospitalization then a prolonged absence.
Returning to competition just before the Tour de France in the French Championship at the end of June, where he finished 13th in a race won by his teammate Florian Sénéchal, the rider had not ultimately been selected by his team for the Grande Boucle.
This was not the end of his troubles. He then tested positive for Covid at the end of July at the Tour de Wallonie, after feeling “a little tired” when preparing for the Spanish loop.
– “A stupid fall” –
“Definitely […] A series of m …”, he commented at a press conference at the end of July to sum up his season, after being contaminated by the virus in Belgium, hiding neither his annoyance nor his fatalism.
On the roads of the Tour of Spain, we saw him regularly in front, notably leading the train of the peloton during the mountain stages last week to take his leader Remco Evenepoel in an armchair at the start of the last daily difficulties.
“When I see since the start of the season the shitty feelings I’ve had, then I’m happy to be able to do a good job in the Vuelta. It’s getting better and better,” he assured Sunday after the 9th stage.
The upturn did not last.
And Evenepoel, who praised his luxury teammate on Monday (“I haven’t seen many multi-world champions do things the way he did”, he said) did not hide his disappointment on Wednesday: ” It’s sad on such a calm stage to lose Julian. It’s a stupid crash. I hope he’s okay and he’s not in too much pain. I wish Loulou the best.”
