It’s not the first time, but it continues to be an heartbreaking situation for Julian Alaphilippe. The Tudor Pro Cycling Team rider crossed the line in Carcassonne celebrating what he believed to be a win. In reality, he raised his arms for a third spot.
Alaphilippe, like many other riders, singled out this day as a good opportunity to join the day’s breakaway and fight for a stage win. The former World Champion has not been able to do that yet in this Tour, despite the good form shown on the first week, and so Tudor – after missing out on the first breakaway – chased down and worked to form another group.
When the breakaway did eventually go up the road, Alaphilippe was on the second group, away from the spotlight, but eventually most of the riders that had gone clear got together in the fast run-in to Carcassonne. Tim Wellens had at that time already a very large gap and flew away with the stage win.
As for Alaphilippe, he was riding after putting his own shoulder back from a crash early in the stage. “I managed to put my shoulder back together, I remembered how they did it at the hospital,” he explained in a post-race interview. In the final sprint then Alaphilippe was the fastest in the chasing group and finished third on the day, beating Wout van Aert and Axel Laurance in the final sprint. Only he celebrated, with both riders looking at him in disbelief.
Only after the finish line did Alaphilippe, who didn’t have a working radio due to the crash earlier in the day, learnt that he hadn’t won the stage. “I fought, I had good legs. The radio wasn’t working after the fall. Like an idiot, I sprinted to try to win,” he admits.