Julian Alaphilippe loses his yellow jersey: what if it was good news?

Julian Alaphilippe lost his yellow jersey yesterday on the Tour de France.

He did not lose it on the road, but with a penalty of 20 seconds because of a prohibited refueling.

For you it's hard to take, but ultimately it's good news.

I say that this morning, with a clear head.

Because I'm not hiding from you that at the time of the race, like many of you I think, my reaction was a little less enthusiastic, and that's an understatement.

All the pun on the bogus stage have been done, so I'll spare you that.

But yesterday was not already an exciting day, specific to the transition stages as they say.

And now, at the end of the boredom, it ends with a story of a bottle, a penalty and a lost yellow jersey.

The Pieds Nickelés started cycling, and it was not a real success.

On the Tour de France, there is a regulation.

It's like that.

Neither Julian Alaphilippe nor his Quickstep team are unaware of this.

It is written in black and white that in a stage race like the Tour, it is forbidden to refuel in the last 20 kilometers.

So why hand a bottle to the yellow jersey 17 kilometers from the finish?

It is the team that makes an incredible mistake, not the runner who has other things to do than calculate when he can drink, and above all, not the race marshals who are content to apply these rules to the letter. .

We can hardly blame them.

Imagine if they had not sanctioned Julian Alaphilippe, what we would have heard about favoritism.

It's annoying to lose the leader's jersey like that, that's for sure, but you have to swallow your anger and start again.

This is exactly what the runner said.

But will it hit him on the head or on the contrary increase his desire to do battle?

I tend to favor the second solution, given the warrior character of Julian Alaphilippe.  

This lost yellow jersey can therefore offer us a great spectacle in the coming days.

When a champion like Julian Alaphilippe is stung, his obsession will be to take his revenge, and get his property back.

So we are going to see him on the attack, and it's rather gratifying.

Both the peloton and the spectators will watch for his reaction, which adds even more spice to the Tour de France.

And then for a team, defending a yellow jersey is exhausting.

At each stage, we must counter the attacks of those who can seek this leadership position.

There, Julian Alaphilippe passes from the status of hunted to that of hunter stripped of his prey by an unfortunate combination of circumstances.

He can have fun and make us happy.

I do not know if he will succeed in taking back this yellow jersey.

But I'm sure he will give himself as never before to do so.

And we are not ready to review a bogus stage like yesterday.

Oh no, I did… I couldn't help it, it deserves a penalty.