Epernay (France) (AFP)
The evolution of career, the place in the pack, future goals ... Three things to know about Julian Alaphilippe, new yellow jersey of the Tour de France:
He remains out of the overall standings
His coach Franck Alaphilippe, who is also his cousin, takes stock of this recurring subject: "Julian is a good climber, he proved it by winning two difficult stages a year ago, but there will always be a stage of mountain where he is going to get stuck.It lacks this constancy in long-term effort, the chain of passes. "
"It would be totally to the detriment of my basic qualities that allow me to win races," confirmed the future yellow jersey before the start of the Tour. "I do not want to disperse, I'm twenty-seven years old, I'm in the middle of a boom." But he left a small opening ... in the long run: "If I decide to invest myself in the overall standings, it will be at the expense of all that and I do not feel like it today."
Which probably justifies the amused little phrase of his coach: "He may change his mind faster than we think."
He is greeted from all sides
Winner of 10 races since the beginning of the year, the native of Saint-Amand-Montrond (Cher) has approached the Tour in the position of world number one. The rank of a rider capable of winning classics (Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo, Flèche Wallonne) and stage races lasting several days.
In the peloton, no one disputes the label of puncher number one, which places him in the continuity of the world champion, the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, on which Alaphilippe has stomped several times, in his debut, in the Ardennes classics.
"He was very strong," responded Peter Sagan, who gave him a hug in the ceremonial area. The Belgian Wout Van Aert, promised to high destinies in this register, used almost the same words: "He was too strong."
He reached a plateau in 2019
Brilliant in the Tour de France 2018 (two stages, the polka dot jersey), "Alafpolak", his nickname on Twitter, ended the year on a false note, his failure in the world championship in Innsbrück where the strategy of the France team had been based on him. Without being annoyed by it, Auvergnat, a lively quicksilver, knows how to integrate into a collective and shares a communicative joie de vivre.
This season, the Montluçon runner has taken another step. It won for the first time a "monument" (Milan-Sanremo, a length approaching 300 km), proving that it remained efficient beyond six hours of racing.
Beyond the Tour, which he is likely to be a major player, it remains to mitigate his revenge for the Worlds. Or the Olympics.
? 2019 AFP