A bit of a blow for Tudor Pro Cycling Team ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Julian Alaphilippe is out due to unspecified health issues.
“Julian Alaphilippe will unfortunately miss both Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Eschborn-Frankfurt due to medical reasons,” the team posted on Instagram “He will not participate in the upcoming events in order to prioritize his health and ensure a full return to cycling. In the meantime, we wish him a speedy recovery.”
Just what the health problems are is unclear. But it is safe to say his Ardennes campaign wasn’t exactly great. He DNFed in both the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne.
With Alaphilippe sidelined, Tudor change up its leadership for Sunday. Marco Brenner steps in as the team’s main option.
As far as when the former world champ will be back racing, a timeline for Alaphilippe’s return has not been announced.
The big win at Tour of the Alps
Tudor did have some good news this week. Germany’s Lennart Jasch, who normally rides Tudor’s development squad, pulled off a surprise win at the Tour of the Alps. With more than 4,000 m of climbing on the day, the move looked risky, but it stuck. Behind, teams including Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe kept things controlled, backing Tom Pidcock after his stage win. Still, the chase never quite clicked.
One by one, Jasch’s breakaway companions dropped away. As the finish approached, late attacks couldn’t reach him. As Giulio Pellizzari thinned the favourites group, Jasch held his gap into the final kilometres. The young rider rode steady all the way to the line, taking a beautiful dub.
As far as LBL, there are plenty of big names racing, Tadej Pogačar returns as the outright favourite, but Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock are regaining form after his crash at Volta a Catalunya. Of course, there’s also the teenage prodigy Paul Seixas. The Frenchman enters the race with plenty of question marks: but does he have what it takes to challenge the seemingly unbeatable Pogačar?
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