Patrick Lefebvre has denied his team's role in encouraging Julien Alaphilippe to race with a broken fibular head since Strade Bianche.

In an interview with Le Parisien in early April, Alaphilippe revealed that he had raced with a fractured fibular head and recalled that "it was the wrong decision" and "I should have taken care of myself."

Alaphilippe's form was mediocre after Strade Bianche, except for an impressive sprint on a flat tire in Milan-San Remo, for which he placed part of the blame on his decision not to take time to recover from the injury.

"Julien raced Tirreno-Adriatico with an injury for seven days. And in Milano-Sanremo, he went into the sprint race without a puncture. Julien was competitive enough and did not aggravate his injury."

The team's interview with Julien was a great success.

In that interview, Alaphilippe revealed that the medical team left it up to him whether he would race with his injury, but Lefebvre further clarified the background.

"After consultation," Lefebvre wrote, "it was decided to continue in the spring." If not Lefebvre himself, the outside world interpreted this as 'under pressure from the team. It is true that it was a great disappointment to lose Julien at an important time, but of course he had the final say."

Alpahiripe and Sourdal Quickstep have had a tumultuous season so far this season after a war of words between the team's Patrick Lefebvre and the former world champion centered on comments blaming Alaphiripe's wife Marion Ruth for his recent performance relationship.

At the time, Ruse brushed off Leferet's unfounded criticism and encouraged him to "show a little more class." Leferet was subsequently fined a suspended fine by the UCI Ethics Committee for comments deemed "derogatory" to women. The team manager publicly apologized and was spared the fine, but must ensure that the violation is not repeated in the next three years.

Lefebvre has also had difficulty extending his contract with Alaphilippe, and the French rider is closely linked to both Cofidis and Total Energy as a potential new team for the 2025 season.