Julian Alaphilippe to return at Brabantse Pijl after Tour of the Basque Country crash
The Frenchman will use the Flanders Classic as preparation for the Amstel Gold Race a few days later
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) will return to racing at Brabantse Pijl after crashing during the Tour of the Basque Country and being forced to abandon the race.
The Frenchman rolled across the line baring the injuries of a crash 5km from the line of stage three, which also claimed Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), but failed to start on day four.
Medical checks revealed the rider thankfully suffered no fractures, and is returning to training ahead of the upcoming Ardennes Classics.
Before the crash, Alaphilippe had been challenging for the overall classification in the Tour of the Basque Country, having taken stage two of the race, sprinting away on the short uphill finish in an effortless win, and was only five seconds off the GC lead.
"I'm happy to not have anything serious. I will continue recovering a bit more and then I will return to the training to recover pace facing the Ardennes Triptych," said Alaphilippe.
The 26-year-old has had a blistering start to the 2019 season, winning Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche, building on a 2018 that saw him win the polka dot jersey at the Tour de France, the overall classification at the Tour of Britain, as well as La Flèche Wallonne.
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Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).