Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) sat on the tarmac beyond the finish line at Alpe d’Huez after a second climb to the top in two days at the Tour de France, legs outstretched, gaze located somewhere in the middle distance. He looked exhausted, physically of course, but more so emotionally.
“I was with Warren Barguil just then. There were a lot of emotions. We have suffered a lot in this Tour,” the Frenchman said quietly as Cyclingnews and a small huddle of French media gathered around him.
Alaphilippe has lit up the Tour de France over the years, his flair and panache carrying him to six stage wins, multiple stints in the yellow jersey and even fifth place overall in 2019. But the sense of energy that has characterised the double World Champion’s career seemed completely drained from the system atop Alpe d’Huez.
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“I’m not thinking about tomorrow. I’m thinking about nothing at all,” he said when asked about Sunday’s Paris finale. “All I really want is to hold my son in my arms.”
Alaphilippe went on to make several suggestions that Sunday would be his last dance at the Tour de France. He has a contract with Tudor Pro Cycling through 2027 but indicated that he will not be returning to the Tour next year, nor ever again.
“It’s maybe my last one, so I made the most of it, I gave everything, not with a lot of success but I didn’t leave anything out there. That’s how cycling is," he told us.
Moments before, he had told Eurosport not to expect to see him back here in 12 months time. Moments later, speaking in English, he stated it more definitively: “I feel happy to finish this Tour, it’s certainly my last one."
He was then asked whether he had already planned that this would be his final Tour, to which he responded: “I feel it.”
Barguil, with whom Alaphilippe had crossed the line at Alpe d’Huez to round out the top 30, had made headlines at this Tour de France for his comments on how much the level of the peloton has increased in recent years.
“Before, if you did 6 watts per kilo, you were good. Now, you’re a teammate,” Barguil, who won two stages and the polka-dot jersey on the 2017 Tour, told L’Equipe.
Alaphilippe struck a very similar note at Alpe d’Huez.
“Yes, yes. You feel that. And I think you see it too. The speeds are crazy, the averages too,” he said of the new generation.
“It’s harder and harder to get into breakaways, more and more people want to go in the breakaways because there are fewer and fewer victories to go for. Voilà.”
Asked if he could still take enjoyment in riding in this Tour, Alaphilippe replied: "No, no. There is no enjoyment there anymore".
“It’s OK, it’s over. It’s time to stop when there is no more enjoyment.”
He was, to put his comments into full context, referring to stopping the interview, but it was a wry play on words that would indicate that Alaphilippe's days in this sport are numbered.
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