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Julian Alaphilippe dancing on the pedals


The reward for the effort: Julian Alaphilippe celebrates his victory in Nice, which gives him the yellow jersey.
Image: AFP

Julian Alaphilippe, the nonconformist, embodies not only the French tour hopes – but also the longing for cycling beyond the tactical constraints.

Julian Alaphilippe grew up with a lot of music in the house. His father Jacques was a professional musician, little Julian tried his hand at instruments and discovered his passion for drums. He’s also mastered the drum roll on his bike – when he increases the beat and lets his legs fly, it looks like he’s not pedaling, but dancing on them. As a dervish who makes his own way through the peloton. As a nonconformist who doesn’t care about conventions and prefers to be solo rather than orchestrated.

Now Alaphilippe France has given France a déjà vu moment that could grow into another carnival in a yellow costume. The 28-year-old darling of the cycling nation won the second stage around Nice on Sunday – in his own way: With a mixture of instinct, explosiveness, class, offensive spirit and stamina, he got out of the saddle, launched the decisive attack and sat down in the final sprint against two remaining competitors. It was a brilliant ride in the yellow jersey of the overall leader, with which he went to the stage from Nice to Sisteron on Monday and defended without any problems. The jersey was “just a bonus,” he said. Again – and there are good reasons for this – he wants to convince the cycling world that he regards the Maillot Jaune on his shoulders only as temporary clothing and has no ambitions in the overall standings. Will the history of the Tour de France 2019 repeat itself this year?

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