Julian Alaphilippe returned to the heights of cycling this week by claiming a victory on Thursday in the twelfth stage of the Tour of Italy. A solo number from the double world champion which puts an end to long months of crossing the desert, injuries and falls which handicapped him. A relief also for the rider of the Soudal-QuickStep team who found himself in the sights of his employer, Patrick Lefévère accusing him of his lack of performance even though he has a very comfortable salary.
The leader even attacked the rider personally, forcing Marion Rousse, director of the Tour de France women and companion of Julian Alaphilippe to speak publicly to defend him. The ex-racer spoke this Saturday in L’Equipe to talk about these painful months before her victory in Italy, almost a year before a success at the Criterium du Dauphiné.
“It had (the victory at the Tour of Italy, editor’s note) a particular flavor in fact, it is different from all the others because the emotion is not the same. Before, he won ten races a year, now it has become rarer, so we take advantage of it differently,” Marion Rousse first explained before returning to the difficult months: “I saw him sad sometimes, but never he didn’t doubt. I saw him go shopping with a smile, I sometimes wondered what could be going through his mind because he seemed so detached from the outside environment. But he always had the same speech: “I ride my bike to win, not to make up the numbers.”
Marion Rousse also agreed to discuss the terrible fall of her partner during Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2022 which “affected him psychologically”, she specifies before continuing: “Even when he talks about it today, he still has tears in his eyes because he saw himself die, he could no longer breathe when Romain Bardet arrived at his side.
The France Télévisions consultant on the men’s Tour de France also spoke at length about the complicated relations with Patrick Lefévère, ensuring that Julian Alaphilippe had managed to protect himself from criticism. “He said in front of the journalists that he didn’t care and that he didn’t pay attention to it, but he also repeated it to me in private. What got to him was when it hit our family. He understood that the absence of results was a source of criticism but when it became very personal, he was touched,” explains the ex-champion who justified his public intervention to defend the one who shares his life : “If I hadn’t done it, it would have remained confined to the small world of cycling even though it went well beyond that framework. I couldn’t stay without saying anything when one of my struggles in life is to work for equality between men and women. And then the other problem that Patrick’s criticisms raised is mental health, which does not only concern athletes. I couldn’t remain indifferent to that.”
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