Julian Alaphilippe’s bizarre decision to celebrate winning the sprint for third on stage 15 of the Tour de France in Carcassonne was a result of his radio breaking in a crash early in the stage, his Tudor team confirmed.
The French star – no stranger to ill-advised finish line bursts of joy – beat Wout van Aert in a group sprint to take third on a relentlessly fast, attacking day in the south of France.
However, as he crossed the line, Alaphilippe raised his arms in celebration, despite the fact that lone attacker Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) had won the stage a full minute and 36 seconds beforehand.
And if the Tudor leader had cast his eyes a few hundred metres up the road, he would also have noticed Visma-Lease a Bike’s perennial breakaway sniffer Victor Campenaerts, who had clipped off the front in the closing stages to take second.
Did Alaphilippe think he’d won… 🇫🇷😬#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/PaqwPRndza
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 20, 2025
But according to his Swiss squad Tudor, Alaphilippe was unaware that anyone was up the road, thanks to his team radio breaking when he crashed hard early in the stage.
The crash, which took place with 150km remaining of the stage and also involved third place Florian Lipowitz, saw the double world champion suffer a dislocated shoulder.
After being treated by the race doctor, who popped his shoulder back in, Alaphilippe managed to regain contact with the peloton, before making his way into the strong 24-rider breakaway that contested the stage and sprinting – or so he thought – for the victory in Carcassonne.
“The day really started on the backfoot with the crash. We feared the worst, the crash really looked severe. When he was sitting there on the ground, holding his shoulder, we were already thinking, ‘that doesn’t look too good’,” Tudor CEO Raphael Meyer told road.cc at the finish.
“But he came back through the bunch, came into the first peloton, then into the [breakaway] group, then sprinted to the line against Wout and Axel Laurance.”
He continued: “Unfortunately after the crash, the radio didn’t work anymore, and as the race was so full gas all day, we didn’t have time to change the radio.
“So he was not aware two guys were up front and thought he had won the stage. But that’s part of cycling, part of the story, and we’re happy we are third. And at least we have the photo!”
Asked about Alaphilippe’s condition, after the 33-year-old was whisked away in a team van to be examined, Meyer said: “We hope that he is fine, he’s doing radio checks. We knew he had a dislocated shoulder, it was put back by the race doctor. But of course, it’s painful.”
Julian Alaphilippe being taken to hospital after crash on stage 15, 2025 Tour de France (credit: Ryan Mallon)
Since then, Alaphilippe returned to the stage finish area, where he was interviewed by France 2, confirming that he did not suffer any broken bones and is likely to continue racing when the Tour resumes after tomorrow’s rest day in Montpellier.
“I managed to put my shoulder back in place, I remembered how they did it at the hospital,” a clearly disappointed Alaphilippe told the French broadcaster. “I fought hard, I had good legs. Unfortunately, the radio stopped working after my crash, so like an idiot, I sprinted to try and win.”
However, despite his star rider’s finish line faux pas, Meyer is convinced that his team has what it takes to win a stage during the Tour’s final week.
“Michael Storer was really solid, most combative, did his best,” the Tudor CEO said of the Australian, who animated the breakaway with an attacking ride before finishing 22nd, in the same group as teammate Alaphilippe.
“Definitely everything but a stage win for him, but he showed the legs are there and the fighting spirit is correct.
“Tonight we need to calm down, reassess. Tomorrow during the rest day, we have lots of time to reassess the situation and see what we’re going to do in the days ahead.
> Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory — when cycling celebrations go wrong
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Alaphilippe has been undone by an ill-advised victory celebration.
LBL 2020 Roglic wins (credit: Cor Vos)
At the 2020 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the then-world champion raised his arms in triumph just before the line – only to be pipped at the death by a late-surging Primož Roglič.
However, Alaphilippe’s blushes were spared (slightly) by the commissaires’ decision to relegate him to fifth for cutting up Marc Hirschi in the sprint, not that that would have been much consolation.