"I don’t want to finish with regrets" - Julian Alaphilippe shows flashes of old-self before exploding at Amstel Gold Race 2025
CyclingSunday, 20 April 2025 at 19:00
Never one to go down without a fight, Julian Alaphilippe gave it his all to light up Amstel Gold Race 2025 this Sunday afternoon in the Netherlands. Despite having even Tadej Pogacar in difficulty for a short while however, the former world champion ultimately blew himself up - fading to a 20th place finish.
“I’m satisfied - I have no regrets. I raced on instinct and really wanted to anticipate Tadej’s move. But he also sort of anticipated himself, so it made things a bit tricky for me,” laughs the Tudor Pro Cycling Team star in his post-race interview afterwards. “I felt good, and like I said this morning: I don’t want to finish with regrets. So I think it was the right moment. Afterwards, I needed a bit of time to recover, and that meant I just missed out on making the right group. It is what it is.”
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Although Alaphilippe needed time to recover following his race-splitting attack however, Pogacar was soon ready to go again. Sadly for the Frenchman, this spelt disaster for his chances of the win. “I thought that if I had a moment to recover, it might be possible. But Pogacar didn’t need any recovery time - unlike me," Alaphilippe explains. "The chasers came back quickly, and after that, it got really hard for me.”
Nevertheless, it's a bright and positive showing for the 32-year-old. Despite the fact he eventually crossed the line over three and a half minutes down on race winner Mattias Skjelmose, there were signs of his old, Rainbow Jersey winning self returning once more. “I’m happy because I felt good in the past few days and recovered well from the Itzulia Basque Country," concludes Alaphilippe's assessment of his race. "No regrets - I just hope the next two races go a little better. We’ll see.”
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Classic Alaphilippe 🤩
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) April 20, 2025
The Frenchman shatters the race 47.5km from the line and only Pogačar could follow who is now leading the race solo.
📸 Sprint Cycling
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- We don't know the whole story in it but don't create some issues Thomas Dekker. I know you're also has a Rabobank-Michael Rasmussen biological passport issue as well in your 2007 days.
James2631804-06-2025 - The last post is spot on.....the UAE team had the resposibility of straightening their boy, seeing as he was letting a giro he had in the bag go up the road. Remember Yates was virtual leader by only about 17 seconds at the top of Finestre so that giro was still salvageable even if Yates linked with Wout, they still had Sestriere to cut into Yates's lead if they had not brought him back at that point. So yes...UAE DS blew it.Zone0Rider04-06-2025
- The Ayuso pile-on get's a bit ridiculous at times. Ayuso didn't lose the Giro for UAE. It was crappy strategy by UAE. And maybe Yates just being stronger. UAE had by far the strongest team even after losing Ayuso and Vine, but didn't use them effectively. For example why wasn't McNulty sent ahead as a satellite rider on Stage 20. If Van Aert made it over the hill so could have Mcnulty. Problem is McNulty was too high on the GC so he wouldn't have been let go. So why the heck was McNulty chasing a meaningless top 10 on GC instead of shedding some time so he could be rested and useful for his leader? Why was Adam Yates invisible for much of the race? Why did it sometimes feel like Majka was the only one all in on supporting Del Toro?mobk04-06-2025
- Unfortunately the US audience get the Dumb and Dumber combo of Bob Roll and C Van de Velde as commenators via Peacock!frieders304-06-2025
- Of all the riders only he got bitten. Of course it was the Pogi-Beeabstractengineer04-06-2025
- Given that Carapaz's behavior was in retaliation for del Toro's on the climb, I'd say that he did lose the race entirely on the climb - but the consequences took some time to be clear.RidesHills03-06-2025
- I totally agree that the way UAE lost this Giro was terrible. Maybe Visma at the Vuelta is not the best comparison. (That Vuelta was more as if Pog had unexpectedly started this Giro but been too sick for two weeks to compete with Ayuso or surprise leader Del Toro, then over three stages raced back to almost take the lead)Hill3303-06-2025
- They were only 1:40 behind Yates at the summit and could have chased on teh descent and in the valley regardless of Wout ! He didn't lose the Giro only on the climb.frieders303-06-2025
- Del Toro has said that he was one major push from Carapaz away from giving up and letting go of the wheel. But, at the right moment for del Toro, Carapaz stopped pushing. So, del Toro is in his rights to recognize that he wasn't actually able to chase Yates down - he didn't have the legs. There was that moment when the two were tantalizingly close to Yates, but del Toro trying to close the gap would have given them the opportunity to 1-2 punch him again. It would have worked, given that he was tired, and then Carapaz likely would have won the Giro. Basically, the moment del Toro let either one of them go forward, he was going to lose the Giro. He had no chance, at his strength level. All of it comes down to the fact that he has said that he didn't have the legs.RidesHills03-06-2025
- 100%. The "debacle" of deciding which of your three riders is going to win is much different and way better than the debacle of losing the Giro with a whimper on the last competitive stage.mobk03-06-2025
He owes Pogi an apology! He pulled Pogacar out of the peloton and then quikly left him alone in the wind. Tadej respected Julian and Julian didn't come through.