Julien Alaphilippe, injured in a crash in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, faces a race against time to compete in the Tour de France, said Patrick Lefebvre, team manager of his Quick-Step Alphavinil.

In a blog on Het Newsblad, Lefebvre stressed the importance of the Frenchman's participation in the Tour de France, but added that Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner Remco Evenpole "will never" be a replacement for Alaphilippe.

"The big question is whether Julien will be there when the Tour starts here in Denmark. We will do everything we can, but it will be a race against time," Lefebvre wrote. Even if the best case scenario is for him to return in mid-May, there are still six weeks to go. The Tour starts a week earlier than usual, on Friday, July 1. That is not an advantage, of course."

Alaphilippe, who went down in a chain crash that also wiped out teammate Ilan Van Wilder, who was scheduled to compete in the Giro d'Italia, is now out with a broken jaw.

Lefebvre blamed the crash on his ego and "because one rider did not want to brake for another." Romain Bardet (Team DSM) stopped to help Alaphilippe after the crash and blamed the crash on Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadier) and Jeremy Cabot (Total Energy).

"Ilan Van Wilder called it "rooster behavior," and he was right. Ilan broke his jawbone and missed the Giro. Julien has a collapsed lung, a broken shoulder blade, and two broken ribs that are also out of alignment; he won't be allowed to move for three weeks, which is painful for him," Leferet said. Initially, he will stay with his family in Ronse. In this condition, he cannot even fly."

Alaphilippe led the 2019 Tour de France for 16 days, 2020 for three days, and 2021 after winning the first stage in Landerneau. He is a key facet of the Belgian team's Tour plan.

"There will be a big difference in the Tour, both commercially and sportingly, with and without Alaphilippe. I don't intend to use Lemko Evenpoel as a substitute. As he himself said on Extra Time Coors [a Belgian TV show], we will keep his schedule. Not the Tour, but the Vuelta."

Lefebvre expressed the contradictory feelings of two riders being hospitalized while celebrating Evenpole's Liege win.

"I think about the two riders who were transferred to a hospital in Herental with serious injuries. Ilan Van Wilder's parents and girlfriend were at the hotel. They saw me standing there with champagne and a toast in my hand. Very uncomfortable.

"I experience that contradiction more often in racing; I remember the 2015 Tour. Zdenek Stival won the [Tour de France] stage in Le Havre, but on the same stage Tony Martin had to abandon with a broken collarbone while wearing the yellow jersey. Whether he will uncork the champagne to celebrate or drown his sorrows, we won't know until the end of the night.

"Moments like this always remind me of the birth of my first son. In one clinic the father died at 4:00, and in another a son was born at 8:00. You don't know what to feel yourself, much less what people have to say to you. That day defined my whole life," Lefebvre continued.

"It helps to keep perspective. It helps you know what really matters and what doesn't. And never panic, even if it's a difficult spring."