«We must not forget – insists Alaphilippe – that the number one goal is to win the stages, not to win the TourI want to savor what I have done so far, because you can't always win." curse it's not rainbow, but yellowAnd if you're French, it can crush you, because you almost can't find a way to escape. So now everyone is wondering what happened to Alaphilippe, when probably it was all a misunderstanding from the start. And perhaps, even without knowing the French Olympic mechanisms, Julian would do better to seize the opportunity, re-evaluate the Olympic track and distance himself from a game that is too big and devoid of logic..
Yellow Curse
“The Tour, the Tour…” His cousin and coach Frank rolls his eyes, because he knows exactly what perverse trap the world champion has gotten himself into.
«It's normal that it's very important for the French teams – he says – ma sometimes it goes to the detriment of the riders. Before renewing with the Deceuninck-Quick Step, Julian has received proposals from teams that wanted him to aim for the Tour rankings. Perhaps this is also why he didn't accept. If he had made his debut on a French team, where he probably would have prepared only for the Tour at the expense of the Classics, would he have had this career?».
Yet they fell for it too. We said it the day before: often the riders' choices are the consequence of team interests, but then it's up to them to indulge certain ambitions or not. When he decided to give up Voeckler's Olympic project to choose the Tour in the rainbow jersey, he could very well have said that he would take it day by day. Focusing on the stages and breaking away from the perverse roulette of the ranking, as suggested by Bettini. Instead, no. So now, the memory of the debut with victory and the yellow jersey having faded, We're all wondering where Alaphilippe has gone..
Blackout in the time trial
Obviously Julian is not the same as he was three years ago and maybe we should ask ourselves whether that year was not rather the unrepeatable exceptionIt is not possible that the rider who dominated the Pau time trial and finished in fifth place was an athlete in a state of grace, capable of surpassing himself before returning to his role as a great classic hunter? Believing otherwise is the first sign of the yellow curse.
«In fact, at the first pedal strokes in the Laval time trial (started in second place in the standings, with only 8” from Van der Poel, ed.) – he said that day – I immediately felt that the legs were not bigEven though I was giving it my all, I heard on the radio that I wasn't in the running. I immediately knew it would be tough. I liked the route, but it was my legs that did the talking, and I didn't have a great day. I have to recover, analyze why things weren't going well».
Necessary choice
Yet, despite the many signals and the need to analyze them, we continued to try to recover, with that idea of a ranking that was so difficult to give up, while Van der Poel was living his yellow fairytale and Van Aert was transforming himself to climb positions, transforming the Tour into a daily battle. In a hellish trap, which Pogacar chose not to fall into.
"Julian may not be the best right now," his cousin added after the interminable stage in Le Creusot, "but I remain optimistic. I'm here hoping the time trial was a day of fatigue. Since then, my legs have gotten better and better. Should you continue to try to follow the best or choose your own steps? This is a topic we're starting to address together.».
The moment to break away
Even for the world champion The rest is providential, even if today's explosive stage is still in the way, which will take the riders to Tignes., lining up the Col de Saisies, the Col du Pre, the Cormet de Roselend and the interminable climb to Tignes. Up there, where Roglic carried out much of his preparation for the Tour, we will draw the conclusions of an explosive, wonderful and illogical first week. In which the stage hunters were portrayed as potential jersey conquerors. And for fear that this was possible, Reasoning and tactics that should have advised the men in the standings to remain calm have been ruined. But if you are a classics man like Alaphilippe, to prevent you from following your instincts and following Van Aert and Van der Poel, they should have tied you up. It's a shame that no one has managed to do it. Maybe It will be precisely the 18'51" delay in this strange ranking that will put the world champion back on trackLet him win two stages, then listen to Bettini and fly to Tokyo. There's no other reason to hold on.
