Julian Alaphilippe prepared to loose rainbow jersey in Wollongong - "Now I feel even less pressure"

Julian Alaphilippe would on normal terms be a prime contender for the World Championships this weekend in Wollongong, but due to how his season has gone, it may be much more difficult for him to fight for a top result when comparing to the last two seasons.

"I'm here with a lot of motivation and I'm mostly relaxed," the Frenchman said ahead of the race in a press conference, on the same day where Thomas Voeckler confirmed the team's lineup for the road race. "I'm not in the best shape, that much is certain. I was injured in my previous race. Again, almost the injury too much. I'm not 100 percent, but I'm not worthless either. Only now I have no guarantees."

Having gotten serious injuries at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he was forced to miss the Tour de France. His comeback at the Tour de Wallonie saw him come down with Covid-19, and then his Vuelta a Espana finished prematurely with a crash that caused a dislocated shoulder. With all the mishaps, Alaphilippe has not shown his best form since the spring, and enters the race as an outsider.

"I'm not the only leader," he points out however. "I have no problem with that. Other leaders have performed better and this course suits them too. I am prepared to give everything for my teammates." The likes of last-minute addition Benoît Cosnefroy, Romain Bardet, Christophe Laporte, Pavel Sivakov and Valentin Madouas are all contenders for a medal, giving the French nation an incredible amount of quality and cards to play in the finale.

He was asked if he feels the pressure coming into the race, to which Alaphilippe responded: "Not at all. In Imola there was pressure, last year I was prepared to lose. I had no pressure in Leuven and now I feel even less pressure (laughs)."

"Of course we are here for a result. I would like to relive everything from the past two years," he concluded. If he was to win, Alaphilippe would match the historic feat achieved by Peter Sagan from 2015 to 2017 in which he took the world title on three consecutive years.