The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team announcement was waited for with high anticipation. Since the start of the year the team has been clear that Fabio Jakobsen was going to be the sprinter but with the most stage wins outright record on the line, Mark Cavendish has almost been willed into the team. The Manx rider who first rode the Tour de France back in 2007 has clocked up 34 victories, equalling the great Eddie Merckx. The calls for his inclusion grew stronger after a weekend where he bossed the British national championships, taking his 2nd national victory on the road.
The two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe also looks set to miss out, only a couple of years after nearly winning the Tour de France. He wore the yellow jersey for 14 days in 2019’s Tour. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to recover enough since his awful crash back at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Alaphilippe was involved in a large crash and hit a tree at speed. This saw the world champion fracture a shoulder black, two ribs and also have a collapsed lung. This was confirmed by the team when it made its announcement yesterday. Alaphilippe only resumed racing last weekend at the French national championships.
“To miss another opportunity to wear my beautiful rainbow jersey in my home country is very sad for me and I knew that this decision would be difficult for the team to take.
At the same time, I completely understand this, because I too don’t want to be at the start if I can’t be at my best level.”
Julian Alaphilippe
Mark Cavendish has been listed as a reserve rider so may still get a late call-up but Alaphilippe hasn’t. The other reserve, Florian Sénéchal has already been called-up to this year’s Tour de France after Tim Declercq tested positive for Covid. The new french champion will bring his new tricolour jersey to the Tour.
“Concerning our reserves, we must stress out that they showed a lot of professionalism, continued to train and remained focused in these past couple of weeks.
“Leaving out Alaphilllipe is a very difficult one, as he is one of the team’s most emblematic riders and we wrote so many great moments together at the Tour.”
Tom Steels
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl 2022 Tour de France Team
- Kasper Asgreen
- Andrea Bagioli
- Mattia Cattaneo
- Mikkel Honore
- Fabio Jakobsen
- Yves Lampaert
- Michael Mørkøv
- Florian Sénéchal
Photo Credit: SWPix
