With just three wins to his name since winning the 2021 World Championship road race, Julian Alaphilippe has seen a marked decline. Now, Cyrille Guimard questions whether the Frenchman still enjoys being on his bike.
"He was always a rider who decided on the orientation of the race, which had an impact, him and his team," Guimard writes in his column for Cyclism'Actu. "Within a group, it is a leader, a leader who takes his team with him. All that has disappeared, when you lose these qualities, you are no longer the leader of the team. One has the impression that he has lost the desire. Does Julian, today, still enjoy cycling after all his troubles?"
Although Alaphilippe is currently set for a spell on the sidelines due to injury, Guimard questions when he returns if he'll be able to reach anywhere near the levels he previously has at this summer's Tour de France. "There are two and a half months left. There is not a week or a day to waste," Guimard explains.
"Talent is never lost, you simply have to find the means to be able to use it and continue to develop it. The talent does not leave, you just have to find the desire and put in place what is needed," he continues. "We have French people who are doing well. I think we can trust Thomas Voeckler to continue with this osmosis in the French team. The core exists, after that it's with Julian Alaphilippe to get to his top level or not."
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