Patrick Lefevere has played down the role of the team in encouraging Julian Alaphilippe to race on a fractured fibula head since Strade Bianche, with the Soudal-Quickstep manager describing the former World Champion as having ‘the final say’ in his decision to race.
Alaphilippe revealed that he had been racing on a fractured fibula head in an interview with Le Parisien earlier in April, reflecting that "It was the wrong decision to do that” and “I should have taken care of myself."
Alaphilippe’s form has been mediocre since Strade Bianche, aside from an impressive sprint at Milan-San Remo on a flat tyre, and he placed some of the blame on his decision not to take time to recover from his injury.
“Julian had raced for seven days in Tirreno-Adriatico with that injury,” Lefevere said in his weekly column for Het Nieuwsblad. “And in Milan-San Remo, he sprinted for victory without a flat tyre. Julian was fit enough to be competitive and could not aggravate the injury.”
In that interview, Alaphilippe made clear the medical team left it up to him whether he would race on the injury, but Lefevere further clarified the context.
‘After consultation, it was decided to continue in the spring,” Lefevere wrote. “The outside world interpreted that as 'under pressure from the team', if it wasn't Lefevere in person. It's true that it would have been a big disappointment to lose Julian at a crucial moment, but of course, he had the final say.”
Alpahilippe and Soudal-Quickstep have had a turbulent relationship so far this season, following a war of words between team Patrick Lefevere and the former World Champion - centred on comments which took aim at Alaphilippe’s wife Marion Rousse for his recent performances.
At the time, Rousse rebuffed Lefevere’s unfounded criticisms, encouraging him to “show a little more class.” Lefevere subsequently received a suspended fine from the UCI Ethics Committee for comments deemed ‘disparaging toward women’. The team manager publicly apologised meaning he was able to avoid the fine, but must avoid repeating an infringement for three years or face a similar penalty.
Lefevere has also made no secret of reservations about extending Alaphilippe’s contract, and the French rider is closely linked to both Cofidis and TotalEnergies as potential new teams for the 2025 season.
