Julian Alaphilippe’s father died after a long illness.
Jacques Alaphilippe, known as Jo, had been ill for several years, but it was announced on Sunday (June 28) that he had passed away.
The former musician is the father of Julian Bryan, who drives for the French team St. Michel-Auber 93 and the younger brother Leo.
He is also the uncle of Quick-Step-Trainer and Julian’s trainer Franck Alaphilippe.
Julian’s team, Deceuninck – Quick-Step, said: “We are very sad about the death of Jo Alaphilippe, Julian’s father and Franck Alaphilippe’s uncle.
“The Deceuninck family’s thoughts – Quick-Step are with them.
“We would like to thank you for your support and we want everyone to respect their desire for privacy in this difficult time.”
Jo Alaphilippe, a former orchestra leader, had visited the Tour de France last year to watch his son’s breathtaking performance in the race even though he was wheelchair bound.
It was a significant race for Julian, who won two stages of the 2019 tour and wore the yellow jersey for two weeks. Within a few days of winning the overall classification, he slipped back to fifth overall.
After the last stage, father and son celebrated their phenomenal trip in Paris.
Alaphilippe was named Best Driver of the Year at Velo d’Or 2019 after winning Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, Flèche Wallonne and the stages of Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Julian is expected to return to the tour looking for more stage wins this season, but says he currently has no plans to become an overall competitor.
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He said: “I will not choose the overall classification because I will have different goals next season.
“I will study the course in detail together with the team, but what I can already say is that it is one of the hardest issues in recent years.”
