Julian Alaphilippe confirmed his retirement from professional cycling with immediate effect, saying he is stopping "not with sadness, but with immense gratitude".
The 34-year-old Frenchman, winner of two road race world titles and six Tour de France stages, had a contract with Tudor Pro Cycling for 2027 but has decided to bring an early end to his career.
His final bow now turns out to have been the final stage of the Tour de France on July 26, with Alaphilippe dropping back to soak up the atmosphere on the cobbled climb in Montmartre before crossing the finish line on the Champs-Elysées.
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News of Alaphilippe's retirement was reported on Thursday evening, and confirmed by the rider himself on Friday evening.
"It is with a very particular emotion that I write these few words to announce the end of my sporting career," Alaphilippe wrote in a social media post.
"After much reflection, I had the honour of closing this chapter of my life on the Champs-Elysées, by way of Montmartre in Paris, on the final stage of the Tour de France.
"I feel enormous gratitude for having been able to work with, meet, or simply cross paths with so many wonderful people throughout my career. And a great deal of luck, too, to have made some of my dreams come true, and to have lived through emotions that will stay with me forever.
"Pride at having contributed to so many successes for all my teams. And at having been able to let you live them too. You have always supported me so much, even in the hardest moments.
"Before coming back to you to share what comes next, simply a big THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.”
Alaphilippe turned professional with the QuickStep team in 2014 and quickly announced himself as a star of the sport, with an explosive climbing style and a helping of panache that made him a darling of fans in France and beyond.
His career catapulted to world-class status in a 2018 season in which he won 12 times, including La Flèche Wallonne and two stages of the Tour de France, plus the polka-dot jersey. And he went up a gear from there, finishing fifth overall at the 2019 Tour after an extraordinary 14-day stint in the yellow jersey, following Classics titles at Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche.
In the delayed 2020 season he won a fifth Tour stage and wore yellow again, before winning his first World Championship with a devastating solo attack in Imola. Despite a trickier 2021, he won another Tour stage in style, and went on to repeat his World Championship success with an electrifying victory in Leuven – arguably his crowing glory.
That was the high point, and though Alaphilippe went on to win at the Dauphiné in 2023 and the Giro d'Italia in 2024, he had begun a decline that has now brought his career to an early end. His final victory was last year's GP de Québec, won with a typically daring late solo attack.
"I’m a kid from Saint-Amand-Montrond who started out in cyclo-cross and playing the drums at musette dances with my father. If you had told that kid one day that he would wear the yellow jersey for fourteen days and become a two-time world champion, he would never have believed you. None of this was something I was owed. It was a gift. A gift from many people," Alaphilippe said in an interview on his Tudor team's website.
Asked why he'd made this decision, he said: "Because it’s the right time. I’ve always raced on instinct, attacking when my legs were burning, not when the numbers told me to. I made this decision in the same way. I woke up one morning at a training camp and I felt it: this is my final year. Without sadness.
"I gave everything I had, and cycling gave me everything in return,” he added. "That’s why I can say it with a smile: I’m stopping. Not with sadness, but with immense gratitude. To all the fans who carried me up every climb: thank you. Thank you for everything."
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