"I want to do the Tour, of course, but there is also the unknown about my condition and then the selection (within his Quick-Step team, editor's note) also happens higher", explained the puncher who returns of a hemopneumothorax and multiple fractures (ribs and scapula), suffered during his fall in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Wearer of the yellow jersey of the Great Loop in his last three editions, Julian Alaphilippe has only been able to carry out three weeks of real training before the road race of the French Championships on Sunday which will mark his return, according to his trainer and cousin. Frank Alaphilippe.

"There are several options, putting me on the Tour, it can be good, or taking more time for me to come back properly", listed "Alaf", who celebrated his 30th birthday in early June.

"I fell ill a few days after the camp, on returning, so I still missed a few days of training," added the six-time Tour stage winner.

"It's also a bit of uncertainty. If I refer to what I was able to do as work during this long internship, I'm happy."

Winner once this season, of a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country in early April, Alaphilippe has "not done especially large training blocks" since the end of his convalescence.

"I resumed my rhythm without necessarily wanting to follow the others", described the wearer of the golden fabric for fourteen days during the 2019 Tour.

Listening to him, the fall of April 24 left him with slight apprehensions previously absent.

"It's not that I'm scared, but I've seen it on some descents, some things may have changed a bit," said the headliner of Quick-Step.

"I don't think about the fall anymore, but I haven't resorted so I don't know how it's going to be in the peloton, when it's going to go down fast or when there will be brakes. Maybe those are things that will seem weird at first, he anticipates. That's also why I'm here, to take back some automatisms, not just to see where I am physically."

The selection of his team for the Great Loop 2022, the start of which will be given next Friday, must be announced at the start of the week.

© 2022 AFP