"I always dreamt to win this race" - Julian Alaphilippe takes spotlight over Pogacar with first 2025 win in Quebec

The GP de Quebec has changed its circuit this year, making it a more difficult finale, and this turned out to be the spark necessary to create a more open race. For the first time a long-range attack has succeeded in this race, and Julian Alaphilippe took advantage of this.

The Frenchman was aggressive and took part in the attacks that anticipated the main favourites of the race such as Tadej Pogacar or Arnaud de Lie. By the time the World Champion made a move in the peloton - in the penultimate lap - the group ahead, of about a dozen riders, had already collaborated their way into a meaningful gap.

With the UAE riders racing individually, there wasn't a coherent chase, and in the peloton there wasn't enough firepower to close down the gap. The riders in the front group were going to battle for the win, and Alaphilippe seemed to make all the right decisions. On his best day, the veteran can make use of his experience in the one-day races, and today he net a victory of experience and power.

"I’ll need some time to realize. I always dreamt to win this race. My Team did a great job at the beginning of the race. It is my first win since the Giro stage last year and I am very happy with it," he said in a post-race interview.

Alaphilippe followed Alberto Bettiol's late move, and then danced away on the very steep gradients of the Còte de la Montagne. Whilst it was an all-out attack, it didn't secure enough of a gap to immediately take the win, but it was just enough to hold off the late surge of Pavel Sivakov.

"I had a good feeling all day and had to play tactical as I was alone from the team in the front group. My DS told me to save energy. It got more difficult lap after lap, I am really happy it worked out," he concluded.