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Flashback Friday: When Julian Alaphilippe almost won the Tour de France
‘I don’t have any regrets. I have everything.’
When Julian Alaphilippe gave up the yellow jersey after a neutralised Stage 19 of the 2019 Tour de France, you could sense the cracking of hearts around the globe. Not for who stepped into it – to diminish the abilities of Ineos Grenadiers’ Egan Bernal would be ridiculous – but for who lost it.
It was a grand three weeks for Alaphilippe, who at the time found himself in the extraordinary position of possibly becoming the first Frenchman in 34 years to win the Tour.
The rise of Julian Alaphilippe
Julian Alaphilippe entered our world with an attacking flair and the ability to command centre stage, possessing the panache that made viewers fall in love with his style. Debuts at La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2015 brought early success – second place behind Alejandro Valverde in only your second pro season is pretty much a winning achievement.
His debut at the Tour in 2016 came to much fanfare, a second place on Stage 2 behind Peter Sagan in a sprint making sure his presence was immediately felt. On Stage 16, a 209km slog into Switzerland, he attacked with teammate Tony Martin practically from the flag drop, launching into a lengthy two-man breakaway. The pair managed over 170km and split the combativity award. This was a first for the race and hasn’t happened since.
As Alaphilippe’s star began to rise, so did his palmarès. A strong performance at the 2018 Tour de France with two stage wins in the high mountains earned a dominant victory in the mountains classification.
He had one of his best seasons in 2019. He attacked to join leaders Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) at Strade Bianche. Up the savage Via Santa Caterina coming into Siena, Fuglsang kicked away but Alaphilippe surged onto his wheel with ease. Van Aert had no answer. And in the final few hundred metres Alaphilippe swooped past the Dane into the lead for victory.
At Milan-San Remo, he was surrounded by his teammates as the race approached the Poggio, but he soon took matters into his own hands when Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) attacked. Alaphilippe raced towards the lone rider and went straight past him, forcing a small break of riders. He was then the man to chase down Bahrain-Merida’s Matej Mohorič in the final kilometre. It was a chaotic finish, riders were strung out on the road and no one wanted to lead out the sprint. It was Mohorič who kicked off proceedings with Alaphilippe on his wheel, and the Frenchman had just enough space to raise his hands in the air as he crossed the line first.
Carrying this momentum even deeper into the Classics and following a second place at Brabantse Pijl, it was at La Flèche Wallonne that Alaphilippe proved impossible to beat, much to the chagrin of an attacking Fuglsang on the Mur de Huy, who could only watch the back of the blue and white QuickStep kit in front of him once again.
Alaphilippe easily transitioned from one-dayers to stage races. In the Tour de France’s warm-up, the Critérium du Dauphiné, he won the hilly Stage 6 and topped the mountains classification. It was here that Tour favourite Chris Froome suffered a horror crashed and Ineos – a team that had dominated the last four editions thanks to Froome and Geraint Thomas – now had a leadership dilemma. Thomas crashed out of the Tour de Suisse and Egan Bernal – a youngster at 22 years of age – went on to win it.
Time was running out fast, and with Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin scratched out after a knee injury, this was shaping up to be one of the most open Tours in recent history…
The 2019 Tour de France
Alaphilippe was clearly flying by the time the Tour de France rolled around. Fortunately only metaphorically – no one wanted a repeat of the individual time-trial from 2016 in which he crashed into the side of a mountain.
Stage 3 was perfect for a rider of his pedigree. A puncheur itching to stamp on the pedals and a day backloaded with hills, the perfect place to launch the attack he was so good at. It was on the last categorised climb, the Category 3 Côte de Mutigny, that he jumped clear in the final 15km. His descending was a work of art, such confidence in his lines as his speed grew and gap swelled. It was only the short wait to see if he’d ridden into the maillot jaune in Epernay. The result quickly flashed on the screen: yes he would, and in some style too.
A brief relinquishing of the jersey to Trek-Segafredo’s Guilio Ciccone followed but Alaphilippe was soon back in yellow. On Stage 8, he attacked next to French flags waving in the wind as fellow Frenchman Thibaut Pinot of Groupama-FDJ joined him on the descent. Lotto-Soudal’s Thomas de Gendt won the stage with Pinot finishing in second and Alaphilippe riding his way back into yellow with third. Spirits were high, patriotism too, and the pair celebrated after the line. The next day was Bastille Day and Alaphilippe proudly wore yellow.
Alaphilippe fever picked up steam in the second week with his incredible Stage 13 time-trial victory. It was presumed Thomas would gain back time on the Deceuninck-QuickStep man, but instead Alaphilippe put more distance between himself and his rivals in the greatest time-trial performance of his life. Thomas lost 14 seconds while Bernal dropped from second to 5th overall.
He had overcome all the challenges thrown at him so far. Heading into the race, his odds to win overall stood around 200-1. His time-trial victory was the cherry on the cake. His second place the following stage behind Pinot drove fans into a frenzy, adding fuel to the already-burning fire. He continued to surpass expectations and therefore they got higher. A Frenchman hadn’t won the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985. Whisper it quietly, but could this be the year?
The day everything changed
Unfortunately, the bubble would burst at the highest point of the race. It was on Stage 19 that Pinot was forced to abandon, in tears with his teammate’s arm around him, a torn thigh muscle cruelly taking away his top five hopes. Alaphilippe was isolated in the swathe of Ineos riders and attack after attack was beginning to take its toll. He slipped backwards on the ascent of the Col de l’Iseran as his rivals faded into the distance. Bernal kicked on and the virtual maillot jaune began to change hands, the Colombian’s lead increasing en route to the summit. He crested the top of the mountain alone and gained the eight bonus seconds as Alaphilippe was now half a minute down in the standings.
No one could’ve predicted what happened next: a freak hailstorm on the descent caused a landslide. Confusion reigned, arms in the air in frustration. There would be no stage winner today. Riders climbed into team cars as the stage was neutralised, times taken from the Col de l’Iseran summit. The kicker? There was no timing equipment there. Only hours later, compounding the torture, it was revealed Bernal had the yellow jersey by 45 seconds. Any chance of gaining back time on the descent had gone up in smoke for Alaphilippe. But should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.
After the stage, he said, ‘It was already a dream to wear the jersey. I’ve pursued the dream for a long time – a lot longer than I ever imagined. Voilà, that’s how it is… I want to thank everyone who supported me in this Tour. I’ve been carried along by the madness of the yellow jersey. A big, big thanks, from the bottom of my heart. As I’d said, whatever the result, I wouldn’t have any regrets, and today I don’t have any regrets. I have everything.’
On the shortened penultimate stage of the Tour, Alaphilippe cracked 13km from the finish line at Val Thorens. He finished over three minutes down and dropped to fifth overall. Bernal was a worthy champion, playing the last stages perfectly and making history by becoming the first Colombian winner of the race. At just 22 years of age, he had also become the youngest winner in 110 years.
Alaphilippe couldn’t have done any more. He had made the top five and won the overall combativity award in the process. The destination might have been a step too far, but the journey sure was certainly something.
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