Romain Bardet is back again on the terrible fall of Julian Alaphilippe at Liège-Bastogne-Liège , an episode that shocked the DSM Team rider tremendously and which, although with a clinical picture certainly not rosy, could have dramatic consequences for the world champion in charge.  

Bardet   he agrees to talk about it again with Gaetan Scherrer de L'Equipe ("one last time to never go back"), still in shock. The French daily dedicates the first four pages of today's edition to this dramatic testimony.

The Frenchman said he feared that the world champion could remain paraplegic , he attacks those who have not stopped and asks that there be fewer suicide bombers in cycling.  

«There have always been falls on a bicycle. But this was particularly violent. It is still difficult for me to talk about it. I remember the sound of helmets slammed against the asphalt, the cries of pain of the boys on the ground. When you fall at this speed, with the discs cutting you like razors, it becomes Russian roulette. My fear, in this situation, is to get a blade in my throat. You control nothing once you are involved in the chaos. When one in front of you falls at over 50 per hour, in three or four rows, everyone rolls over, hits him. We were going at more than 70 per hour, the surface was not good. I had the impression of being along the descent of a place where there had been frost all winter. There were many holes where we fell. On perfect asphalt, we would have passed without incident.   It was the moment of the competition most conducive to drama. I felt the tension had been building for some time. It was very dangerous already 100 km from the finish, the brawl had not yet started, everyone was still fresh and shiny. Everything froze as always at the top of the Haute-Levée, on the main road, the fall came a little further, because some guys a bit on the edge, they swooped in from behind thinking it was their last chance, that if had they not taken the Col du Rosier while standing in front, they would have detached themselves. So all together, and voilà ».  

Bardet even says he doesn't remember everything at all. There is like a hole in its reconstruction.  

“I don't even know if I fell or not. I know I was behind Tom Pidcock and Jérémy Cabot , I was trying to keep a small margin of safety on them, I felt the wave coming. I had time to brake, to tell me it was over, my season was over and from there I don't remember anything. In the next image, I am in the ditch with Julian Alaphilippe . I didn't even know where my bike went at that moment. I know I was hit from behind, I think I fell, but I have no wounds on me, I don't know, I don't remember. I have four to five seconds left. I saw Julian, in really bad shape. He could barely breathe, without speaking, without moving. And there I had a flash, the impression of having been the only one to see him suffer, while the race continued, without paying attention. The motorbikes started up again, the cars too, and I was there, in the ditch, screaming alone in the void, with no one to hear me. It was an immense anguish. I thought I was going to be there, all alone, forever. I went back to the street and was almost shot down by a completely crazy sports director who wanted to go back to the front. Sometimes, humanity ... (sighs). They seemed to take it as if it were normal, as if running took precedence over everything else. I am almost surprised that they did not smile and said to each other: - one less opponent. I'm exaggerating, huh, but in their eyes it was an accident like any other. There are no established rules, but there is decency ».  

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