Teams & Riders Julian Alaphilippe Discussion Thread

[Blanco]

Re:

Finally the strongest in on the climbs in a monument. Still no monument won. Ofcourse he did great work to help a teammate, but I wonder if it doesn't start to sting somewhere

He let too many guys from that group, for someone being the strongest guy... He was among the strongest though.

 

[Bolder]

Re:

Finally the strongest in on the climbs in a monument. Still no monument won. Ofcourse he did great work to help a teammate, but I wonder if it doesn't start to sting somewhere

I suspect QS were somewhat surprised that Jungels was able to stay away -- I certainly was. My immediate thought after Jungels's attack was that QS was setting up Alaphilippe. If the chase was able to organize itself, Alaphilippe could have rightly sat on with a good chance to win in a (small) bunch sprint.

 

[armchairclimber]

Re: Re:

Finally the strongest in on the climbs in a monument. Still no monument won. Ofcourse he did great work to help a teammate, but I wonder if it doesn't start to sting somewhere

I suspect QS were somewhat surprised that Jungels was able to stay away -- I certainly was. My immediate thought after Jungels's attack was that QS was setting up Alaphilippe. If the chase was able to organize itself, Alaphilippe could have rightly sat on with a good chance to win in a (small) bunch sprint.

I doubt it was that much of a surprise. He has shown what he can do when drilling it on the front before now.

 

[Bolder]

Re: Re:

Finally the strongest in on the climbs in a monument. Still no monument won. Ofcourse he did great work to help a teammate, but I wonder if it doesn't start to sting somewhere

I suspect QS were somewhat surprised that Jungels was able to stay away -- I certainly was. My immediate thought after Jungels's attack was that QS was setting up Alaphilippe. If the chase was able to organize itself, Alaphilippe could have rightly sat on with a good chance to win in a (small) bunch sprint.

I doubt it was that much of a surprise. He has shown what he can do when drilling it on the front before now.

Definitely. He's a thoroughbred. I don't mean that QS were surprised at his talents but that a chase never materialized. If you look at the top 15, Vanendert/Wellens/Haig/Valverde/Dumoulin/Pozzovivo/Gasparotto etc., they should have been able to pull him back in the last 10 km without too much difficulty.

 

[can3478]

Re:

Finally the strongest in on the climbs in a monument. Still no monument won. Ofcourse he did great work to help a teammate, but I wonder if it doesn't start to sting somewhere

I wonder the same thing, especially there is no uphill finish next season. The chance for Alaphilippe to win gets smaller. He had podium on all non-cobbled monuments and he's in best form to have won one yesterday.

From DH.be: Patrick Lefevere told reporters "I am moved by the collective spirit of the team, Julian Alaphilippe has sacrificed himself for Bob Jungels because they are good friends, Julian Alaphilippe told Bob Jungels to go in. He quickly took 25 seconds..."

Alaphilippe is really happy for Jungels as seen in this video posted on QS twitter:

https://twitter.com/quickstepteam/status/988069907773427713

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Finally the strongest in on the climbs in a monument. Still no monument won. Ofcourse he did great work to help a teammate, but I wonder if it doesn't start to sting somewhere

He let too many guys from that group, for someone being the strongest guy... He was among the strongest though.

It's impossible to react to everyone in a race like this without paying a price. Unless you're Valverde, then you react to no one because you expect others to do the work for you.

 

[can3478]

BestCycling made another video for Alaphilippe featuring the best moments of his 2018 classics season. It starts with him playing an imaginary drum and ends with him playing the real drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcGF8Q2_3yk

 

[can3478]

Coming into Criterium du Duphine with no goals or expectations, Alaphilippe finished 2nd on stage 1 and a win on stage 4.

 

[can3478]

In an interview, Alaphilippe said that his goal for this Tour de France 2018 is to win a stage and everything else is just a bonus. He's going to try to keep the polka dots jersey as long as possible.

Quick-Step just released a video - Relive the emotional #TDF2018 stage victory of @alafpolak - who talks of his perfect day in the Alps and what it means to be a member of #TheWolfpack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=Oo4i8DLwfTg

 

[Akuryo]

How would you rate his chances of taking home the polka dot jersey? Its basically him vs. Barguil (and maybe Pauwels, but I doubt he can beat the other two). He was in a lot of breaks the last few days, so the question will be, if he can sustain those efforts. It was also bad that they let Gorka up the road yesterday, who took a lot of points from Alaphilippe.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

How would you rate his chances of taking home the polka dot jersey? Its basically him vs. Barguil (and maybe Pauwels, but I doubt he can beat the other two). He was in a lot of breaks the last few days, so the question will be, if he can sustain those efforts. It was also bad that they let Gorka up the road yesterday, who took a lot of points from Alaphilippe.

I think he's the favorite to win it, but if Barguil finds his legs it's gonna be tough. It's definitely between the two of them though.

On another note, I really love watching Alaphilippe ride. He always gives it 100% and almost never disappoints.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

How would you rate his chances of taking home the polka dot jersey? Its basically him vs. Barguil (and maybe Pauwels, but I doubt he can beat the other two). He was in a lot of breaks the last few days, so the question will be, if he can sustain those efforts. It was also bad that they let Gorka up the road yesterday, who took a lot of points from Alaphilippe.

I think barguil has a clear advantage. The only thing that's in favor of alaphilippe is that barguil hasn't looked superb so far either. Aside from that the climbs on stage 16 aren't that long which could be good for alaphilippe but then again that stage is a lot less important for the kom competition than stage 19 which suits barguil miles better.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

How would you rate his chances of taking home the polka dot jersey? Its basically him vs. Barguil (and maybe Pauwels, but I doubt he can beat the other two). He was in a lot of breaks the last few days, so the question will be, if he can sustain those efforts. It was also bad that they let Gorka up the road yesterday, who took a lot of points from Alaphilippe.

I think barguil has a clear advantage. The only thing that's in favor of alaphilippe is that barguil hasn't looked superb so far either. Aside from that the climbs on stage 16 aren't that long which could be good for alaphilippe but then again that stage is a lot less important for the kom competition than stage 19 which suits barguil miles better.

Stage 16 aren't that many points, and Quick Step can just take back every break with Barguil if Alaphilippe doesn't want to contest it.

Stage 17 is 100% GC men winning the stage, so for Ala it's basically a 40km stage for 2 cat 1s. If Barguils drops Alaphilippe on the Peyresourde he'll have a problem.

The main problem for Ala is the Tourmalet and also the ridiculous categorization of the Aubisque.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re: Re:

How would you rate his chances of taking home the polka dot jersey? Its basically him vs. Barguil (and maybe Pauwels, but I doubt he can beat the other two). He was in a lot of breaks the last few days, so the question will be, if he can sustain those efforts. It was also bad that they let Gorka up the road yesterday, who took a lot of points from Alaphilippe.

I think barguil has a clear advantage. The only thing that's in favor of alaphilippe is that barguil hasn't looked superb so far either. Aside from that the climbs on stage 16 aren't that long which could be good for alaphilippe but then again that stage is a lot less important for the kom competition than stage 19 which suits barguil miles better.

I do hope Pauwels would get it, the only advantage he might have is an entire team to help him with his mission and a nose for breakaways.

 

[del1962]

This deserves to be here

 

[del1962]

 

[Akuryo]

Such a fun guy, on and off the bike. Also heard that he asked if he should wait for Yates but his DS said to him that he should just go for the stage. Just a class act all around!!

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Such a fun guy, on and off the bike. Also heard that he asked if he should wait for Yates but his DS said to him that he should just go for the stage. Just a class act all around!!

I would guess his DS told him that he would personally murder him if he slowed down

 

[tobydawq]

Yeah, it was Brian Holm who made it sound like the most stupid and ridiculous thing he had ever heard in his entire life and that he - primarily because of that - never knew what craziness Alaphilippe could be up to and that he would have to learn.

Sometimes he is just such an [insert censored word at your own will].

I'm not saying he should have waited, by the way, I just think Holm completely overreacted.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Yeah, it was Brian Holm who made it sound like the most stupid and ridiculous thing he had ever heard in his entire life and that he - primarily because of that - never knew what craziness Alaphilippe could be up to and that he would have to learn.

Sometimes he is just such an [insert censored word at your own will].

I'm not saying he should have waited, by the way, I just think Holm completely overreacted.

In fairness, that is the sort of thing that would give any DS an aneurism.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

This deserves to be here

GREAT photo!
Credit to Jeff Pachoud
Other TdF photos:
https://twitter.com/jeffpachoud

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

This deserves to be here

GREAT photo!
Credit to Jeff Pachoud
Other TdF photos:
https://twitter.com/jeffpachoud

That trident can be used to many things. Half an hour ago, I was driving up the Tourmalet where the devil was standing playing it like a guitar. In the middle of the night.

 

[can3478]

From QS - http://www.quickstepfloorscycling.com/en/news/detail/alaphilippe-secures-tour-de-france-polka-dot-jersey/3717

After claiming the honors atop Aspin and Tourmalet, the 26-year-old mathematically clinched the KOM classification.

Julian Alaphilippe rode into the history books, as he became the first rider to win four HC climbs at an edition of the Tour de France since the inception of this category, in 1979: Glières, Bisanne, Madeleine and Tourmalet.

"Coming into the Tour de France, my only goal was to get a stage victory, which was something I was dreaming of for some years now; the KOM jersey wasn't a priority at that time, but after landing it on my shoulders following the success in Le Grand-Bornand, I began thinking of taking it home. That's why today, when I led the breakaway group over the top of Tourmalet, which is such a legendary and revered climb, I was so happy. It's been a really hard and tiring race, but I am extremely satisfied with what I accomplished together with my team and am now looking forward to arriving in Paris after tomorrow's ITT", a beaming Julian said after the last mountain showdown of this edition.

 

[Red Rick]

He was in every mountain stage breakaway?

 

[Akuryo]

After the premature ending of Gavirias debut and Jungels not making the top 10, he basically saved the Tour for QS! Could also get them some french sponsors.