Alaphilippe back in the peloton for French nationals: "I haven’t restarted racing so I don’t know how it will be in the peloton"

Julian Alaphilippe has been out of competition for over two months, but this Sunday he will be back on the road, on home roads as he competes in the French national championships alongside Florian Sénéchal and Rémi Cavagna in search of a title.

“It’s not that I’m scared, but I think on some descents, some things may have changed a bit," he said in an interview with L'Équipe. His crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège saw him sustain large injuries, but he's been able to recover in time for a major goal. "I don’t think about the fall anymore, but I haven’t restarted racing so I don’t know how it will be in the peloton, when it will go down quickly or when there will be brakes," he says.

“These may be things that will seem weird at first. That’s also why I’m here at nationals, to become automatic again, not just to see where I am physically," he said about the race he's set to do tomorrow, with ambitions very much an unknown.

"I want to do the Tour, of course, but there is the unknown on my condition, and of course, the selection also happens higher," he pointed out. The Belgian team has not yet announced their lineup for the Grand Boucle, and surely Alaphilippe's big test this weekend should be one of the reasons why.

He's managed to resume training six weeks ago, and spent almost half that time in altitude in Sierra Nevada alongside the block for the Tour de France. He opted to focus on training above the traveling and competition that many did throughout the last few weeks - adding to being safer regarding some Covid-19 outbreaks that have spread, specially at the Tour de Suisse.

“I fell ill a few days after coming back from training camp, so I still missed a few days of training. That’s also a bit of uncertainty. But if I think of the work I was able to do during the long camp, I’m happy," he concluded.