The double world champion signed his first success of the season with the training of Tudor.
A reborn victory, relief and immense happiness. Julian Alaphilippe signed a major success after several complicated seasons by winning the Quebec Grand Prix on Friday after a thrilling finish. A first significant bouquet almost a year and a half after his victory in the 12th stage of the Giro, in the spring of 2024, and after three seasons marked by many galleys.
The Frenchman, 33, has awaver has a few lengths his compatriot Pavel Sivakov and the Italian Alberto Bettiol. These three men were part of a group of six attackers, also including the Danish Mattias Skjelmose, the Slovenian Matej Mohoric and the Belgian Quinten Hermans. The Sextuor narrowly resisted the return of the peloton in the last hectometers, Alaphilippe broke the group in the last ascent.
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“Since the start of the day, I felt that I had good legs. And I ran intelligently. I did my race without worrying about the other teams ”said the Frenchman who had displayed his good form in recent weeks by finishing in 3rd place in the general classification of the Tour of Britain last weekend.
Alaphilippe rolled upside -down
In the attack group, Alaphilippe has rarely taken over, “Rolling against (his) nature as an attacker”. “It is not in my habit of not collaborating 100% ahead. I often stayed on the wheels without wanting to do the show. It was the instructions given by my sports director and it paid. To win, you had to stay calm, it was the key today ”he said at a press conference.
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“It is a special victory for me because I always dreamed of winning this race that I was playing for the seventh time. It is a puncture race, of World Tour level, on a course that I love. ” «Millennium» was part of a group of a dozen insulated attackers 80 kilometers from the line. A group that has reduced over the last thrilling kilometers. Despite several attacks by the world champion Tadej Pogacar who tried to return to the head in the last round, the last six backpackers were not taken up.
“The obsession to win”
The Tudor team puncture has placed its decisive start in the mountain coast just under two kilometers from the line. “Julian was too explosive for me. He is extraordinary under these race conditions ”conceded Sivakov about the triple winner of La Flèche Wallonne at the top of the Huy Wall (2018, 2019, 2021), “However very happy with his second place”.
The double world champion (2020, 2021) signed his first success of the season in the Tudor training, which he joined at the start of the year after spending his career in the Belgian team Quick-Step so far. This 45th victory with professionals is therefore the first major success in French “For too long” While he imagined “Not finishing the season without raising your arms”.
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Before that, his last three seasons had been spoiled by several falls, especially during Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2022) from which he had recovered with a pneumothorax, two broken coasts and a fracture to an shoulder blade. A new fall in the Tour of Flanders 2023 had then disrupted its following season just like the year 2024 had been complicated by two falls in early March at the Het Nieuwsblad circuit.
This Canadian success is therefore “A real Renaissance” for Alaphilippe who “Despite the weight of years” Continue, he confesses, “To ride with the obsession to win”. The sextle winner of stages on the Tour de France, under contract with Tudor until 2027, will be at the start on Sunday from the GP of Montreal, a race whose course with a much higher elevation that Quebec will be more suitable for climbers. Starting with Tadej Pogacar, who got up on Friday in the final to finish in 29th place, 26 seconds from the winner.
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