Now the World Cup. The sky has changed color and It's as if Julian Alaphilippe had now stopped on the top of the hill with the time to finally look back. The transition to Tudor It seemed not to have produced the results he had hoped for. The Tour had been more lows than highs, to the point of requiring a longer recovery and the withdrawal from San Sebastian. The victory of Quebec City It was a desired and unexpected electric shock, probably the exception that will prove the rule of young cannibal cycling. Only this time, the 31-year-old found a way to spring the trap and returned home with the full loot.
«I really wanted to finish the season in the best possible way – he said – I worked hard for the team, but As a leader, it was important that I could winAnd getting there this way was even better. We had to be smart. I was ordered to keep calm, it was a bit unnatural, but knowing how to manage your energy reserves is part of the game."
Pick up and take home
He was clever, is there something wrong with that? For once, he wasn't the one who lit the fuse, but he let his companions exhaust themselves in an adventure that began 73 kilometers from the finish line. As it is used now, as he had also shown he knew how to do. before the 2022 Liège accident forced him into a long layoff which changed everything.
«I am generous in my efforts – Alaphilippe said in the press conference after the victory – but given the level of the current group, if I had collaborated from the beginning, I certainly would not have had the energy to impose myselfFor years, I didn't count my pedal strokes. Sometimes I was too generous and didn't get results. I wasn't supposed to be leading so far from the finish line; they asked me why I wasn't pushing, and I had to say I was following orders. I've never done it before, I can't say I liked it.But in the end, even the riders who had said something to me came to congratulate me. I will never repeat a scene like that again."
The group does not wait
The script is the same as others who have said enough. The level of the group has risen so much that the time to recover from a bad injury becomes an irretrievable gap. And when you return, you realize that everything has changed, that no one is waiting for you. That you no longer have the same pace as before, and your head feels down. Martha Cavalli that's why he stopped running, Alaphilippe still fights.
«I wanted to show that I'm still here – he said – that I can still win one of the toughest racesI saw the joy of my teammates and my staff. That's why I keep riding my bike. If I thought I was done, I would have quit. and I wouldn't have signed for a new teamI felt like I still had something to give, and now I want to finish the season strong. My two World Championships aren't that far away, but they seem like they're from another era. I'm one of the last riders to have experienced cycling pre-Covid. Young riders riders are robotized in terms of training, nutrition, sleep and altitude trainingEverything is more precise and calculated. And for them, it's normal. Even though I'm very professional, I don't aspire to this. In a team, with Matteo Trentin, we are the last two representatives of this generation."
The French spirit
Now the world cup, with the suggestion of an exotic journey to challenge that ruthless and friendly tyrant named Pogacar, which has been monopolizing cycling matters for five years.
"We have to take his superiority into account," explained French coach Thomas Voeckler, "but our team's spirit hasn't diminished. I formed the group with riders who understand the pride of being FrenchI can't help but say that we'll aim for victory, that we'll race to become world champions. You might think I'm not clear-headed, yet I say this with the utmost humility. I believe there is a very limited window of time that we can exploitWe're not in 2020 or 2021, where we had the best striker in the world on striker routes. Yet I prefer try to do something even risking finishing in 45th place, rather than waiting to get into the top 10, trying to survive."
The champion's pride
Beaten by someone who's closer to the end than the beginning. Who knows if the joke in the press conference actually made him smile. But certainly the final reflection of Julian Alaphilippe, who stopped two days later in the Montreal race, is almost... the (unfortunately in vain) invitation launched to the youngest to stop while there is still time.
"Old-school cycling," he said, "isn't over. I'm still capable of winning without following a precise plan. I train hard, but I couldn't live the life of these guys.I need freedom and the joy of living, which for me is one of the driving forces. I've been a father for four years, and it has changed my life. I want to keep this simple side, while continuing to be a rider. You have to live, never forget that you're just riding a bike and that there is life outside of here too».
