Julian Alaphilippe has stood up for the motorcyclist who was involved in his hard fall in the Tour of Flanders eleven days ago. The Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider believes that the 64-year-old man is not to blame.
The 28-year-old Alaphilippe seemed to be competing for the victory in the final phase of the Tour of Flanders with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. At 35 kilometers from the finish, however, the Frenchman realized too late that his fellow escapees were sending around a motorcycle. He collided with the motorcyclist and crashed hard.
Eddy Engels, the motorcycle racer who was involved in the crash, was especially criticized on social media and felt compelled to tell his story. The Belgian said a week and a half ago The last news that despite gnawing guilt, he feels that he was doing nothing wrong. Alaphilippe agrees.
“I already heard that the motorcyclist felt guilty, but he doesn’t have to worry about that,” Alaphilippe says. The team. “Hopefully this interview will be of support to him. It was just a racing incident and I don’t blame him. I’m not a vindictive person anyway.”
‘It was not Van der Poel’s fault either’
Because of his hard fall, Alaphilippe could not only put a line through a possible victory in ‘Flanders Most Beautiful’; the world champion on the road also suffered some fractures in his right hand. Alaphilippe, who was operated on quickly and is now recovering, insists that he could not have prevented the fall anyway.
“I hear people say I wasn’t focused. But whether I looked in front of me or behind me, had my hands on the wheel or not, it wouldn’t have mattered. I just didn’t hear the sound of the engine because we were so fast. reason “, said the Frenchman, who does not blame his fellow refugees.
“It is not Van der Poel’s fault that he did not warn me. Just like the motorcyclist, he is not to blame. Van Aert and Van der Poel even sent me messages after the race, so that was nice of them.”
Due to the fall of Alaphilippe, rivals Van Aert and Van der Poel fought for the victory. The Dutchman from Alpecin-Fenix won in a sprint-a-deux.
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