.JPG) Alaphilippe at the2018 Tour of Britain | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Julian Alaphilippe |
| Nickname | Loulou |
| Born | (1992-06-11)11 June 1992 (age 33) Saint-Amand-Montrond, France |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] |
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb; 9 st 11 lb)[1] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
| Disciplines | |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Puncheur |
| Amateur team | |
| 2012 | Armée de Terre |
| Professional teams | |
| 2013 | Etixx–IHNed |
| 2014–2024 | Omega Pharma–Quick-Step[2][3] |
| 2025– | Tudor Pro Cycling Team |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
Other
| |
Medal record | |
Julian Alaphilippe (French pronunciation:[ʒyljɑ̃alafilip]; born 11 June 1992) is a French professional road cyclist, former cyclo-cross racer and two-time UCI World Road Champion, who currently rides forUCI ProTeamTudor Pro Cycling Team.[4] He is the brother of racing cyclistBryan Alaphilippe.[5]
Born inSaint-Amand-Montrond, Alaphilippe started his career competing in thecyclo-cross discipline and finished second in theJunior World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 2010.
Alaphilippe's road career began in 2012, riding with amateur teamArmée de Terre. During that season, he impressed at theTour de Bretagne, finishing eleventh overall, and finished second overall and won a stage in theCoupe des nations Ville Saguenay, aUCI America Tour 2.2 event.[6]
Alaphilippe joinedEtixx–IHNed, the development team ofUCI WorldTeamOmega Pharma–Quick-Step. The young rider had an even more successful season in 2013, taking a solo victory on stage 4 of the Tour de Bretagne. Later in the year, he came 4th in theEuropean Road Race Championships and 9th in theUCI Road World Under-23 Championships. He also won the final stage and the points classification of theTour de l'Avenir, theGrand Prix Südkärnten, and a stage at theThüringen Rundfahrt der U23.
Alaphilippe joinedOmega Pharma–Quick-Step in 2014. He made his professional debut in January, at theTour Down Under, and obtained his first podium in the professional ranks on the opening stage of theVolta a Catalunya. He was also second in Stage 5.[6] Alaphilippe scored his first victory as a neo-pro in Stage 4 of theTour de l'Ain,[7] where he showed his explosiveness in an uphill finish ahead ofDan Martin, just days after another top 3 finish, at theRideLondon–Surrey Classic.
His bestWorld Tour result of the year in a one-day race was a fifth-place finish from a seven-man group in theGP Ouest–France.[8]
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2015 was a breakthrough year for Alaphilippe. After two top-10 finishes at theVolta a Catalunya, he rode in a supporting role at theArdennes classics to help his teammate, the reigning world championMichał Kwiatkowski, and finished 7th in theAmstel Gold Race behind winner Kwiatkowski. InLa Flèche Wallonne, his first time participating in the race, he continued to support Kwiatkowski but found his teammate too far behind at a crucial juncture. His team director told him to go for the win and he finished second on theMur de Huy behind three-time winnerAlejandro Valverde.[9] The scenario repeated itself atLiège–Bastogne–Liège a few days later, when Alaphilippe finished second in hisLa Doyenne debut, again behind Valverde.[10] In doing so, Alaphilippe recorded the best French performance at the race sinceLaurent Jalabert's runner-up finish in1998.[11]
After those performances and a string of podium finishes in theTour de Romandie, Alaphilippe signed a two-year contract extension in May, until the end of the 2017 season.[12] Later in the month he won the queen stage of theTour of California, atopMount Baldy, and took over the lead in the general classification, two seconds ahead ofPeter Sagan.[13] However, he lost the overall eventually to Sagan by just three seconds in the last stage due to the time bonuses in a bunch sprint.[14] In the later part of the summer, he finished eighth at theClásica de San Sebastián, finishing in the lead group behind the winner,Adam Yates. He subsequently finished tenth overall in theEneco Tour, which included a stage that used many of the Ardennes classics roads.[15] He failed to finish in theroad race at the World Championships, and was later diagnosed withinfectious mononucleosis – leading to extreme fatigue, and marking the end of his season.[16]
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Alaphilippe started his season at February'sTour La Provence, and recorded his first top-ten finish of the season at April'sBrabantse Pijl, before finishing sixth at theAmstel Gold Race. Later in April, Alaphilippe again placed second atLa Flèche Wallonne, as he did in 2015. He then earned his biggest victory at the time, at theTour of California, when he won a stage atop Gibraltar Road and the overall. The lead was taken on stage 3 when he attacked on a hors-catégorie climb with less than 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) left. His form continued at theCritérium du Dauphiné where he finished sixth overall and first in the young rider classification – his first white jersey at aUCI World Tour race.[17] In late June, he was named in the start list for theTour de France.[18] During the Tour de France, he held the young rider classification from stages 2 to 6, after taking second inCherbourg-en-Cotentin and won thecombativity award on stage 16.
Alaphilippe was then selected to represent his nation at theOlympics in Rio de Janeiro, competing in theroad race and theroad time trial.[19] During the road race, he caught up with the leading group of cyclists on the final climb ofVista Chinesa, but his crash on the descent hindered him from joining the final attack launched byGreg Van Avermaet andJakob Fuglsang to catch the sole leaderRafał Majka before the finish line. Alaphilippe eventually finished the road race in fourth position, 22 seconds behind the winner Van Avermaet.[20][21] Alaphilippe finished in 32nd position in the road time trial.
In September, he came close to winning the road race at theEuropean Road Championships, finishing second inPlumelec.[22]
Alaphilippe started his 2017 spring preparation at theAbu Dhabi Tour, where he finished fifth overall and won the best young rider classification. In March, he rodeParis–Nice and won his first career individual time trial, with an uphill finish on stage 4. He kept his race lead over the next three days,[23] before finishing fifth overall, and won the young rider and points classifications. The following weekend, Alaphilippe finished third on his debut atMilan–San Remo, being narrowly beaten in a sprint byMichał Kwiatkowski and world championPeter Sagan after the trio broke clear on the final climb, thePoggio di San Remo.[24]
Alaphilippe's season was then hampered by a lengthy injury sustained at theTour of the Basque Country. It was announced in April by his team that Alaphilippe would miss theArdennes classics due to a pre-patellar lesion knee injury.[25] He also missed out his primary goal of the year, theTour de France, after undergoing knee surgery in May.[26] Alaphilippe returned to racing atGrand Prix Pino Cerami in July,[27] and made his debut at theVuelta a España a month later. He scored his maiden Grand Tour stage win in Stage 8 during which he outclimbedRafał Majka andJan Polanc from a breakaway, on the roads to Xorret de Catí.[28]
Also in August, Alaphilippe signed a two-year contract extension with his teamQuick-Step Floors, keeping him through the 2019 season.[29]
At theWorld Championships held inBergen, he broke clear on the last climb of the race and led until under the flamme rouge, before being overhauled by the peloton and finishing tenth.[30] One month later, Alaphilippe concluded his season at theTour of Guangxi by taking fourth overall and the young rider classification.[31]
Alaphilippe started his season at the inauguralColombia Oro y Paz and won the uphill finish to Alto Boquerón, before finishing seventh overall and as the only non-South American rider in the top 10.[32] He then returned at theAbu Dhabi Tour and went one place better than in the previous year, taking fourth place overall after a podium finish on the final stage of the race.[33] After a pair of top 3 finishes atParis–Nice, he took his first victory of the season inZarautz in the opening stage of theTour of the Basque Country; he also won the following stage intoBermeo.[34]
Seventh at theAmstel Gold Race, he finally scored his first one-day race victory just a couple of days later. During the third and final ascent of theMur de Huy atLa Flèche Wallonne, Alaphilippe accelerated near the summit, overtakingJelle Vanendert in the last 100 metres (330 feet) of the race and dropping him.Alejandro Valverde, who had won the last fourLa Flèche Wallonne editions, staged a late fight-back and almost caught Alaphilippe, but Alaphilippe was able to kick again in the final metres to increase his lead over Valverde and eventually win the race. It was the biggest victory of Alaphilippe's career at that point, and he was the first French winner of La Flèche Wallonne sinceLaurent Jalabert won in1997.[35][36]
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Alaphilippe participated in his secondTour de France after a successfulCritérium du Dauphiné, where he won the stage toLans-en-Vercors, and claimed his maiden Tour de France stage win in stage 10 with a series of attacks and aggressive descending in the Alps. He took the maximummountains classification points on the Montée du plateau des Glières, the Col de Romme and the Col de la Colombière, finishing the stage toLe Grand-Bornand more than one minute ahead of the second-placed riderIon Izagirre ofBahrain–Merida, and over three minutes ahead of the peloton that included the defending championChris Froome. Alaphilippe also took the lead in the mountains classification at the end of Stage 10.[37][38] Alaphilippe won the 16th stage of the race afterAdam Yates crashed while leading, on the descent 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) before the finishing line.[39] He maintained his mountains classification lead throughout the second half of the race, finishing 79 points ahead of his closest rival.[40]
The following month, Alaphilippe won theClásica de San Sebastián, out-sprintingBauke Mollema for the win, after the two riders escaped the field on the final climb, the Murgil Tontorra.[41] He then won the third stage and the general classification of theTour of Britain, after taking the overall lead on the sixth stage of the week long competition. Alaphilippe continued to have success in stage races, as he became the first Frenchman to win theOkolo Slovenska less than a week later. Despite his large amount of successes in 2018, Alaphilippe faced disappointment at theUCI Road World Championships inAustria, where he was appointed France's team leader. On the final climb, he cracked and lost contact with the race leaders, and ended up finishing 8th.[42]
Alaphilippe started the 2019 season in January with theVuelta a San Juan and theTour Colombia. At the Vuelta a San Juan, he finished second overall and won two stages, one of which was an individual time trial. He then won the points classification and one stage at the Tour Colombia, from a small group. His first major race wasStrade Bianche, which he won on debut, beating outAstana riderJakob Fuglsang in a kick up the final climb of Via Santa Caterina.[43] He finished 6th overall inTirreno–Adriatico, taking stage 2 toPomarance and then earning a surprise victory on stage 6 despite leading out his team's designated sprinterElia Viviani.[44] He then won his firstMonument, atMilan–San Remo after attacking on thePoggio di San Remo and outsprintingOliver Naesen andMichał Kwiatkowski on the Via Roma.[45] As a result, Alaphilippe became the top-ranked rider on theUCI road racing world ranking.
This was followed up by a stage victory in theTour of the Basque Country,[46] a second place atBrabantse Pijl,[47] a near-miss of a podium place at theAmstel Gold Race,[48] and then three days later, by a successful defence of hisLa Flèche Wallonne title that he had won in 2018, which made him one of the few riders in history to claim back-to-back victories at the Belgian World Tour race. After a break, he resumed competition at theCritérium du Dauphiné, winning stage 6 from the breakaway,[49] and he won the mountains classification.
Alaphilippe won the third stage of theTour de France on 8 July, simultaneously earning himself the yellow jersey, after a powerful solo attack inside the last 15 kilometres (9.3 miles).[50] After losing the jersey by six seconds on stage six toGiulio Ciccone,[51] he regained it following stage eight, where he finished third.[52] He then won stage 13, the individual time trial in Pau, by beatingGeraint Thomas by 14 seconds on the day that celebrated 100 years since the yellow jersey was created.[53] He kept the overall lead until stage 19 after being dropped on theCol de l'Iseran.[54] He ultimately finished the race fifth overall; with his two stage wins, and fourteen days in yellow, he was designated as the most combative rider of the race.[55] Seventh at theGrand Prix Cycliste de Québec in September, he finished his season with a 28th place at theUCI Road World Championships inYorkshire.
For the third consecutive year, Alaphilippe began his season in South America, racing theVuelta a San Juan, which he was forced to abandon through illness after just two days, and theTour Colombia, where he scored his first podium of the year, in Santa Rosa de Viterbo. Following theCOVID-19 pandemic-enforced suspension of racing, Alaphilippe recommenced his season at August'sCritérium du Dauphiné, finishing in 24th place overall and taking second place in the mountains classification, behindDavid de la Cruz.[56][57]
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At the postponedTour de France, Alaphilippe won stage 2 inNice with a powerful sprint from a three-man group that went clear over the final climb of the day, taking the overall lead at the same time.[58] He held the yellow jersey until stage 5, when he received a 20-second time penalty for taking a bidon inside the final 20 kilometres (12 miles).[59] On stage 17, toMéribel, Alaphilippe received the combativity award.[60] He finished the Tour in 36th place overall.[61]
At theUCI Road World Championships inImola, Italy, Alaphilippe attacked on the final climb with just over 13 kilometres (8.1 miles) to go, to take the victory in the road race, a first for a French elite male since 1997.[62] Alaphilippe's first race wearing therainbow jersey wasLiège–Bastogne–Liège, rescheduled to 4 October. He contested the five-man sprint and, believing he had won, celebrated as he crossed the line. However, a photo finish revealed thatPrimož Roglič had crossed the line in first place. Alaphilippe was later relegated to 5th place for impedingMarc Hirschi during the sprint.[63] On 7 October, Alaphilippe took his first win as World Champion atBrabantse Pijl, ahead ofMathieu van der Poel andBenoît Cosnefroy, with whom he had attacked inside the final 20 kilometres (12 miles).[64]
Alaphilippe's last race of the season was theTour of Flanders. He was in the leading group of three riders which had made the decisive winning move, when he crashed into a race motorbike with 35 kilometres (22 miles) to go and abandoned the race after receiving roadside medical attention. His team later reported that he had broken two bones in his right hand.[65]
Alaphilippe started his season by finishing second overall at theTour de la Provence,[66] before making his debut inOmloop Het Nieuwsblad. In March, he returned at the start ofStrade Bianche, where he finished second.[67] He remained in Italy forTirreno–Adriatico, taking a stage win on the second stage, coming on the uphill finish ofChiusdino.[68] Four days after concluding the race, he made an attack on the Poggio, forcing a selection in the closing kilometres ofMilan–San Remo, but eventually finished 16th.[69] After racingDwars door Vlaanderen for the first time in his career and returning at theTour of Flanders, where he attacked from distance several times and played a part in the victory of his teammateKasper Asgreen, he announced the extension of his contract withDeceuninck–Quick-Step until the end of 2024.[70]
Alaphilippe was then in the mix inAmstel Gold Race, finishing sixth for his fifth consecutive top 10 at the race. Three days later, he wonLa Flèche Wallonne for the third time, as he closed down an attack byPrimož Roglič 50 metres (160 feet) before the finish; he became the first incumbent world champion sinceCadel Evans in2010 to win the race.[71] He concluded his first part of the season with a second place inLiège–Bastogne–Liège. Alaphilippe was part of a five-man group who went clear on the final ascent of the day and managed to hold off the chasers, but was pipped on the line byTadej Pogačar in the sprint for his second second-place finish at the race.[72] He won the first stage of theTour de France, attacking on the final climb of the stage, the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups.[73] He lost the yellow jersey the following day,[74] but assumed the green jersey of points classification leader for two further stages. He became the sixth rider to have worn the yellow, green, polka dot and white jerseys at the Tour de France during their career.[75]
Alaphilippe returned to theWorld Championships as an outside favourite to defend his title in theroad race.[76][77] The race was animated from the start, with Alaphilippe's French team on the attack early on. The French drew out the favoured host country Belgium, by beginning their assault 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the finish, as Belgium were attempting to control the proceedings for their team leader and favouriteWout van Aert.[78] Alaphilippe made his first move with 58 kilometres (36 miles) to go, attacking on the Flandrien circuit, and bridging with the favourites up to the remaining breakaway riders.[79] He attacked thrice more on the Leuven city circuit, further fracturing the dwindling group of favourites that included van Aert,Mathieu van der Poel andSonny Colbrelli. Finally with 17 kilometres (11 miles) remaining, Alaphilippe made his fifth attack, on the Sint Antoniusberg climb, resulting in him moving clear of the leaders on the cobbled climb and soloed to victory.[80][81] He became the first French male rider to win multiple world road race titles,[82] and the first rider to win in successive years sincePeter Sagan won in2015,2016, and2017.[83]
His father was musician Jo Alaphilippe, who died in June 2020 after a long illness (he attended the2019 Tour de France in a wheelchair). His younger brotherBryan Alaphilippe also competed professionally as a cyclist, before retiring in March 2021.[84] His cousin is trainerFranck Alaphilippe.[85] In April 2020 Julian announced in an interview withL'Équipe that he was in a relationship with broadcaster and former racing cyclistMarion Rousse.[86][87] In January 2021 Alaphilippe announced via social media that the couple were expecting a child.[88] Their son Nino was born 14 June 2021.[89]
Young rider classification
Points classification Points classification Young rider classification Young rider classification
OverallTour of California
Road race,UEC European Championships Young rider classification after Stages 2–6
Combativity award Stage 16 Young rider classification Points classification Young rider classification Young rider classification OverallTour of Britain OverallOkolo Slovenska
Mountains classification
Mountains classification after Stages 3–5 & 8–18Combativity award Overall Points classification
Road race,UCI World Championships after Stages 2–4Combativity award Stage 17Road race,UCI World Championships after Stage 1 after Stages 1–3 Points classificationCombativity award Stages 6, 12, 16 & 19 and Overall Points classification| Grand Tour general classification results | ||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 48 | — |
| Tour de France | — | — | 41 | — | 33 | 5 | 36 | 30 | — | 33 | — | 56 |
 Vuelta a España | — | — | — | 68 | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | |
| Major stage race general classification results timeline | ||||||||||||
| Race | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
 Paris–Nice | — | 43 | — | 5 | 18 | — | 16 | — | — | — | — | 44 |
 Tirreno–Adriatico | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | 41 | 33 | 30 | 62 | — |
 Volta a Catalunya | 83 | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | NH | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour of the Basque Country | — | — | — | DNF | 35 | DNF | — | 24 | — | — | DNF | |
| Tour de Romandie | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 33 | — | |
 Critérium du Dauphiné | 57 | DNF | 6 | — | 21 | 35 | 24 | — | — | 10 | — | — |
| Tour de Suisse | — | — | — | — | — | — | NH | DNF | — | — | — | 5 |
| Monument | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | — | — | 3 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 16 | — | 11 | 9 | 42 |
| Tour of Flanders | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | 42 | — | 51 | 70 | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | Has not contested during his career | |||||||||||
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | 2 | 23 | — | 4 | 16 | 5 | 2 | DNF | 86 | — | 58 |
| Giro di Lombardia | DNF | — | 60 | 2 | — | — | — | 6 | 51 | 36 | — | |
| Classic | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 57 | — | — | DNF | — |
| Strade Bianche | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 24 | 2 | 58 | 43 | DNF | — |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | — | 29 | 26 | — |
| Brabantse Pijl | 14 | 19 | 8 | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | DNF | — | — | — |
| Amstel Gold Race | DNF | 7 | 6 | — | 7 | 4 | NH | 6 | — | — | — | 20 |
| La Flèche Wallonne | — | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 4 | — | — | 22 |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | DNF | 8 | — | — | 1 | DNF | NH | 6 | — | DNF | 2 | — |
| Bretagne Classic | 5 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | 30 | 58 | 70 |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | 28 | 46 | 65 | — | — | 7 | Not held | — | 9 | 81 | 1 | |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | 57 | 60 | 10 | — | — | 13 | — | 12 | 3 | DNF | ||
| Tre Valli Varesine | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NH | — | 82 | NR | 3 |
| Event | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Olympic Games | Road race | Not held | 4 | Not held | — | Not held | 11 | NH | ||||||
| World Championships | Road race | — | — | DNF | — | 10 | 8 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 51 | DNF | DNF | DNF |
 European Championships | Road race | Race did not exist | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
 National Championships | Road race | 68 | 89 | 5 | 5 | — | 3 | — | 3 | 37 | 13 | DNF | 12 | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| IP | Event in progress |
| NH | Event not held |
UCI World Junior ChampionshipsNational Under-23 ChampionshipsNational Under-23 Championships
UEC European Under-23 Championships
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | French Sportsman of the Year 2019, 2020, 2021 | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
