French cyclist Alaphilippe in good spirits, still at hospital after crash | More sports News – Times of India
French road cyclist Julian Alaphilippe is still in hospital but in good spirits after a freak crash left the world champion with a collapsed lung and broken bones at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic, his coach and cousin said on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old, who fell into a ditch 62 kilometres from the finish on Sunday, suffered broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade.
“He was like an accident victim, he was still in a lot of pain, but he wasn’t at all down,” Franck Alaphilippe was quoted as saying by French sports daily L’Equipe.
“He made one or two silly remarks, as he is used to doing, and I was happy to see that he had already found his joking side… (but) he’s seriously injured, that’s clear, and he’s disappointed.
“He said to me, ‘I almost avoided the tree, and if I had, maybe I could even get back on the bike and race again.’ He was very unlucky.”
Alaphilippe faces a race against time to be fit for the Tour de France, which starts in Copenhagen on July 1.
“From what I’ve seen of him, I feel like this episode is going to make him stronger, give him even more mental strength, he’s going to be even more determined than before,” said Franck Alaphilippe.
“We can’t give a resumption date yet, but I’m very optimistic about the rest of the season.”
The 29-year-old, who fell into a ditch 62 kilometres from the finish on Sunday, suffered broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade.
“He was like an accident victim, he was still in a lot of pain, but he wasn’t at all down,” Franck Alaphilippe was quoted as saying by French sports daily L’Equipe.
“He made one or two silly remarks, as he is used to doing, and I was happy to see that he had already found his joking side… (but) he’s seriously injured, that’s clear, and he’s disappointed.
“He said to me, ‘I almost avoided the tree, and if I had, maybe I could even get back on the bike and race again.’ He was very unlucky.”
Alaphilippe faces a race against time to be fit for the Tour de France, which starts in Copenhagen on July 1.
“From what I’ve seen of him, I feel like this episode is going to make him stronger, give him even more mental strength, he’s going to be even more determined than before,” said Franck Alaphilippe.
“We can’t give a resumption date yet, but I’m very optimistic about the rest of the season.”
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
