World Championships 2022: Julian Alaphilippe set to defend rainbow jersey after being named in French team

The 30-year-old will be seeking at third consecutive crown after taking the rainbow jersey in Imola and Flanders, and shapes as another likely contender.

The 268.3km route through New South Wales includes 12 laps of a Wollongong City Circuit encompassing a short and sharp ascent to Mount Pleasant, a climb of just over a kilometre with gradients peaking at 14%.

Alaphilippe will be supported in Australia by a strong French team of nine riders that also includes Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), who have each performed well in 2022.

The crash in Spain on Stage 11 was Alaphilippe’s second major incident of the season.

Patrick Lefevere, Alaphilippe’s boss at Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, suggested that he would rather his rider focussed on the end-of-season swing of Italian classics than seek a third world title after a disrupted season.

“He wants to risk it, but I don’t think it’s that smart. If I had been him, I would have let the World Championships pass me by and put everything on the Italian races. But I understand the pressure of – what I will call – French politics. I don’t pay him to ride for the French team. Becoming world champion is nice, but I’d rather have him race in our jersey.

“He was not in the best condition before the Vuelta. What I saw there was good, but I think it’s risky.”

There is no place in the French selection for Benoit Cosnefroy, who turned down a place in the squad before claiming his first win of 2022 in impressive fashion at the Grand Prix de Québec.

Climbers David Gaudu, Thibaut Pinot and Guillaume Martin are also excluded, though there is a place for Pavel Sivakov after the France-raised Ineos Grenadiers rider switched his nationality from Russia in March.

Remi Cavagna will bid to improve his seventh placed finish from 2020 in the men’s time trial, with Bruno Armirail also part of both elite men’s squads and the mixed relay team event against the clock.

French selection for the UCI Road World Championships

Elite men’s road race: Julian Alaphilippe, Romain Bardet, Pavel Sivakov, Christophe Laporte, Valentin Madouas, Quentin Pacher, Florian Sénéchal, Rémi Cavagna, Bruno Armirail

Elite women’s road race: Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Juliette Labous, Evita Muzic, Aude Biannic, Coralie Demay, Marie Le Net, Gladys Verhulst

Elite men’s time trial: Rémi Cavagna, Bruno Armirail

Elite women’s time trial: Juliette Labous, Marie Le Net

Mixed relay TTT: Rémi Cavagna, Bruno Armirail, Aude Biannic, Coralie Demay, Marie Le Net, Eddy Le Huitouze

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