Romain Bardet was very afraid for Julian Alaphilippe: “It was a nightmare”

When Julian Alaphilippe did not appear in any image following the terrible fall which upset Liège-Bastogne-Liège this Sunday, the concern gradually took on importance. It took long minutes to understand that the world champion had indeed been involved and that the worst was to be feared, given his position, in the ditch near a tree. Passed by his compatriot and friend, Romain Bardet did not take two seconds to grasp the gravity of the moment. He returned to this one after a race which he did not finish, too touched by what he had seen.

“We don’t cycle for that, the last time I saw such a fall was William Bonnet on the Tour, in 2015“, he first explained, very moved at the microphone of France Info. The Groupama-FDJ rider had suffered a fracture of the second cervical vertebra and the images of his fall and the minutes that followed had marked the peloton. According to Bardet, the crash was caused by two riders colliding in front of him.”Nobody wanted to brake, we were driving at 80 km/h. No one stops at this speed“.

Liege – Bastogne – Liege

Bardet came to the aid of Alaphilippe after his fall

AN HOUR AGO

“He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe”

“Tom Pidcock and a DirectEnergies fell in front of me and to my rightadded Bardet for VeloNews. Forr me, it went. When I looked around I saw Julian, maybe five or six meters down. It was an emotional shock, he was really in a worrying situation. Nobody was coming, when he really needed help. It was an emergency, he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe“. Bardet, who did not hesitate to use the term “nightmareto describe the moment, was then seen gesturing for help to help Julian Alaphilippe.

For RMC, he revealed that Alaphilippe himself told him he couldn’t move: “It lasted forever. I didn’t want to touch him, you don’t have to in those cases. I tried to call people but the cars were blocked. It lasted forever. Maybe 4-5 minutes but I thought… It was really shocking as a scene“.

“He was conscious but couldn’t really speak, he said again. Jreally hope he’s okay. There were so many guys involved, you couldn’t see Julian from the road. After that, I was shocked, my run was over. I was lucky to get away with it without injury“. Left, Bardet finally gave up and did not join Liège. For him, all that was no longer worth it after what he had seen. “JI felt really great, but chasing after it didn’t really make sense anymore“, confirmed the recent winner of the Tour of the Alps.

According to information from France Télévisions, Julian Alaphilippe was conscious in the ambulance that took him to the hospital. At the end of the day, the Quick Step formation announced a very heavy medical bulletin for the French. He, like Bardet, is probably not about to forget this moment.

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