Julian Alaphilippe

[gavroche]

He has announced his retirement after the 2026 TdF.
He has had a great career with two world championships back to back.
He was always an exciting rider and never be afraid to attack.

 

[matticus]

For me, he's a bit like Sagan; not my favourite kind of sportsman (and I don't think I could spend an evening drinking/dining with either of them), but I really appreciate what their personality brings to the sport.

And they are both BIG names in the sport, even though not quite Top Tier, able to win at will types.

Chapeau Mr Philippe! :P

[for years I thought he was called Juliana La-Philippe]

 

[Dogtrousers]

Sad. One of my favourites.

He has become a bit of a caricature of himself in recent years with hare brained doomed attacks. Never really the same after that big (spectacular) crash he had Strade Bianchi a few years back.

Anyway, best of luck to him in whatever he does next.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

Raised his game to new heights in 2019 TDF, as if wearing the yellow jersey gave him extra power for a while, never quite the same after a big crash a few years later but still loved to try and animate races.

 

[wakemalcolm]

He did the best crash photos, both at Flanders and Strade.
2 world championships and that astonishing 2019 run in the tour: think he can retire with his head held high. He's one of those riders who definitively got left behind in the post COVID era.
Chapeau for Rousse too.

 

[Dogtrousers]

And they are both BIG names in the sport, even though not quite Top Tier, able to win at will types.

Hard to think what constitutes top tier if they aren't/werent - Sagan (especially): WC x 3, green jersey x 7(?) P-R, Flanders ... and Alaphilippe WC x2, Strade, MSR ... Sure they weren't Pog, but nobody was. Just those multiple rainbow jerseys should be enough.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Hard to think what constitutes top tier if they aren't/werent - Sagan (especially): WC x 3, green jersey x 7(?) P-R, Flanders ... and Alaphilippe WC x2, Strade, MSR ... Sure they weren't Pog, but nobody was. Just those multiple rainbow jerseys should be enough.

Agree, some of the disrespect that multiple monument winning legends like Devolder and Gerrans get is unfathomable to me.

 

[matticus]

Hard to think what constitutes top tier if they aren't/werent - Sagan (especially): WC x 3, green jersey x 7(?) P-R, Flanders ... and Alaphilippe WC x2, Strade, MSR ... Sure they weren't Pog, but nobody was. Just those multiple rainbow jerseys should be enough.

A very fair point! I'm just looking at cycling from the outside - you know, the world where only TdeF GC winners count for anything. Green jersey - what's one of those?!?

 

[phreak]

Agree, some of the disrespect that multiple monument winning legends like Devolder and Gerrans get is unfathomable to me.

Isn't it simply a case of looking at their total palmares? Devolder, for instance, didn't manage a single top 10 placing outside of those two Flanders wins. Gerrans was largely the same. Sagan won the same number of monuments as them both, but also had 16 top 10 placings during his career. That suggests to me that he was much the better rider, it's just those two had everything line up for them twice in their careers.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Loulou had the best eyebrows though.

 

[cyberknight]

In his prime he was brilliant and knew where his talents were as a Puncheur but in the pogacer era he knows where he is wise to not try and string out his career just to come in the pack .
His charity work will hopefully outlive the memory of his racing days

 

[red.rider]

Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images