(Reuters) – 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.”
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
