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Teams & Riders Julian Alaphilippe Discussion Thread

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I don’t doubt that he works incredibly hard. It‘s rather that he‘s just not good enough any more, which he cannot change, of course. This decline came surprisingly early, imho.
Does he still push the same numbers? That's what I'm wondering. You don't lose such strength so quickly without something else being wrong. It's not like he's 40 years old.

I hope he finds his old self back, would be good to see him shine in TDU immediately and win it.
 
I think he should go the way Froome went. Performance deteriorates, so Froome gets closer and is more open to his fans. I think Alaphilippe should do the same. He isn’t open to his fans, yet. He „hides“, and seems a bit inaccessible.
Hot garbage.
Form is temporary, class is forever.

Please don't compare him to a circus clown grifter
 
Does he still push the same numbers? That's what I'm wondering. You don't lose such strength so quickly without something else being wrong. It's not like he's 40 years old.

I hope he finds his old self back, would be good to see him shine in TDU immediately and win it.
Physical problems after his crashes last year plus something that can't be stated explicitly on this part of the forum would be my guesses. I'm a huge Alaphilippe fan but I would be surprised to see him go back to his WCRR winning form.
 
In an interview with Sporza, Lefevere said he had a good talk with Alaphilippe who apparently said to him: "Give me one more winter, I'll proof to you I still have it in me.". We'll know next week how good his winter has been. Alaphilippe at his best would win TDU easily.

His main goal will be Tour of Flanders.
 
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In an interview with Sporza, Lefevere said he had a good talk with Alaphilippe who apparently said to him: "Give me one more winter, I'll proof to you I still have it in me.". We'll know next week how good his winter has been. Alaphilippe at his best would win TDU easily.

His main goal will be Tour of Flanders.
His main goal will be Tour of Flanders?! Good luck with that...
 
What can Alaphilippe realistically win this year? Stages somewhere?
If he's still not back to his WCRR-winning level then yes.

But peak Alaphilippe was just below MvdP / Wout level, and was in the mix at Flanders and LBL. Not to mention he owned Flèche, and won MSR/Strade. But time moves on. This seems to be a make or break year at QS. I think we'll see him on a French team in 2025...
 
If he's still not back to his WCRR-winning level then yes.

But peak Alaphilippe was just below MvdP / Wout level, and was in the mix at Flanders and LBL. Not to mention he owned Flèche, and won MSR/Strade. But time moves on. This seems to be a make or break year at QS. I think we'll see him on a French team in 2025...
The thing is, Alaphilippe is already bigger than Lefevere, and Lefevere nowadays is afraid of dismissing Alaphilippe. Patrick just doesn’t dare.

So I fear Julian stays another few years at SQS, to earn much money, and doesn’t really care if he won’t win big, any more. No one can take away his WC titles, so Julian now apparently feels that it cannot get better than this, any more, and takes it (too?) easy.

If they dismiss Alaphilippe, SQS on paper will look even weaker than they already look. I have the feeling 2024 could become a(nother) difficult year for them.

Julian has beautiful triceps and calves, skinny, fleshy, beautiful. But that won’t be enough to intimidate his opponents, I think.
 
So I fear Julian stays another few years at SQS, to earn much money, and doesn’t really care if he won’t win big, any more. No one can take away his WC titles, so Julian now apparently feels that it cannot get better than this, any more, and takes it (too?) easy.

If he wants to earn much more money, the I doubt he's staying at SQS, since there will probably be a some French teams that are willing to pay him more.
 
If he's still not back to his WCRR-winning level then yes.

But peak Alaphilippe was just below MvdP / Wout level, and was in the mix at Flanders and LBL. Not to mention he owned Flèche, and won MSR/Strade. But time moves on. This seems to be a make or break year at QS. I think we'll see him on a French team in 2025...
Peak Alaphilippe is certainly not below those two, especially Wout, but the problem is will he find his best form again.
 
He's going to the Giro d'Italia in 2024 and won't be at the tour to support remco. I hope this doesn't mean Fausto being a gregario all season.

View: https://twitter.com/Ciclismoaldia3/status/1745013119846387782?t=mXx_o7Q14VKdRaEhkARlKQ&s=19


So the confirmed races so far for Julian;.

Tour Down Under
Omlopp het Nieuwsblat
Strade Bianche
Milano-Sanremo
Tour of Flanders
Giro d'Italia

I like this programme
No mention of Olympics? That should be his main focus. 2019 Alaphilippe could have won on this course.
 
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He's going to the Giro d'Italia in 2024 and won't be at the tour to support remco. I hope this doesn't mean Fausto being a gregario all season.

View: https://twitter.com/Ciclismoaldia3/status/1745013119846387782?t=mXx_o7Q14VKdRaEhkARlKQ&s=19


So the confirmed races so far for Julian;.

Tour Down Under
Omlopp het Nieuwsblat
Strade Bianche
Milano-Sanremo
Tour of Flanders
Giro d'Italia

I like this programme

Its a good schedule for the first part of the season, a shame he won't ride Flèche though as without Pogačar and Roglič he could win again.

Interesting to see what will he ride in the second part of the season, Olympics probably will depend on how well he rides earlier in the season and then my guess is probably Vuelta + Worlds.

If he can return to his best he would be a threat in almost all one-day races mentioned.
 
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Its a good schedule for the first part of the season, a shame he won't ride Flèche though as without Pogačar and Roglič he could win again.

Interesting to see what will he ride in the second part of the season, Olympics probably will depend on how well he rides earlier in the season and then my guess is probably Vuelta + Worlds.

If he can return to his best he would be a threat in almost all one-day races mentioned.
I think it's because he also starts quite early with TDU. Most riders that want to be at their best during Ardennes classics and Liege start a bit later (Evenepoel for example). Since the main goal of Alaphilippe is Tour of Flanders it makes sense to start a bit early, but don't go all the way to end of april. Since he's riding the Giro too.
 
If he's still not back to his WCRR-winning level then yes.

But peak Alaphilippe was just below MvdP / Wout level, and was in the mix at Flanders and LBL. Not to mention he owned Flèche, and won MSR/Strade. But time moves on. This seems to be a make or break year at QS. I think we'll see him on a French team in 2025...
And of course should have had that LBL on his palmares as well!