When a black misfortune sticks to the gut, it is definitely very difficult to get rid of it. You probably have to wait for the wheel to turn, once more and once more, until you find the groove of luck. Sitting on the lawn of Roubaix, comforted by his toddler, Yves Lampaert had difficulty sorting out his emotions, in a maelstrom of adrenaline, stress, fear and anger. Tenth on the Vélodrome, the Flandrien was not sure if he should be happy to have escaped the worst, following an impressive glide at the exit of the cobblestone sector of Hem, visibly caused by a spectator clumsily using his phone. Or if he were to get angry following this new hard blow, yet another snub of fate for this Quick Step – Alpha Vinyl team which is going through a flagrantly weak spring.
“You call that a fan? Rather… a calf! exclaimed bluntly the rider from Flanders, who might not stomach the imprudence of the spectator at fault. “Generally, the public takes a step back when they see the runners arriving, it’s a natural step back. There, on the contrary, this person stretched out his arm and touched mine, so that I lost control of my bike. If you don’t sense where the danger lies on the side of the road, then stay home! Dylan van Baarle was the strongest of us but I honestly think I deserved to fight for the prizes, who knows for a podium? There, I find myself certainly without serious injury or fracture, just bruises and burns, but with an accessory that disappoints me a lot… ”
Lefevere: “Another group of runners is coming…”
Words dripping with spite that symbolize the lack of success of a Quick Step team for many weeks. “Besides Yves Lampaert or Florian Sénéchal, Kasper Asgreen also suffered this Sunday,” said Patrick Lefevere. “He was involved in a crash when he was quite comfortable in the first big counter group, before the race really entered its decisive phase. The bad luck refuses to go away. “Collectively, we were better positioned this time than at the Tour of Flanders for example, Yves Lampaert seemed in the game for a top 5, not for victory” weighed the manager, a bit fatalistic. “We haven’t experienced such a difficult period in the races that have stuck with us for a good ten years. In 2011 if I remember correctly… A year later, thanks to Tom Boonen, we had won everything”.
Patrick Lefevere has seen others, in more than thirty years of managing a world-class team. “There is one week left, two good chances to reverse the trend, you know that I refuse to draw any conclusions before the end of the Ardennes races. »
Expectations for Julian Alaphilippe and Remco Evenepoel will be enormous, during the Flèche Wallonne this Wednesday then in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday. “A group of runners goes home, another arrives…”
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