"I think I owe him a drink tonight" - Romain Grégoire pays tribute to Julian Alaphilippe as French coalition helps keep Maillot Jaune at Tour de Suisse

Romain Grégoire did enough to secure at least another day in the Maillot Jaune at the 2025 Tour de Suisse. Although the Frenchman lost time to João Almeida, Oscar Onley and Ben O'Connor, he has reached the halfway mark of the race with a 25 second lead over Kevin Vauquelin in the general classification.

A big reason for Alaphilippe keeping the Yellow Jersey, was a massive help from Julian Alaphilippe. Despite the French pair riding for different teams, Alaphilippe guided Gregoire back to his rivals on the descent towards the finish line, having initially been dangerously distanced on the Cat 1 Splügenpass.

“The goal was to keep yellow,” Grégoire told Cycling Pro in a post-stage interview afterwards, paying tribute to his former world champion compatriot. “So mission accomplished. It was absolutely brutal, and I’m completely shattered. Fortunately, I had Julian with me — he was a massive help after the summit. I think I owe him a drink tonight. I’m really happy with how the day turned out.”

“I knew there would be attacks. I chose to focus on the riders closest to me in the general classification — especially Kevin Vauquelin. He got a bit annoyed with me, but it was the smartest approach. If Onley and O’Connor clawed back a bit of time on me, so be it,” adds the Groupama - FDJ leader, not yet thinking of an overall victory. "Right now, I’m just thinking about recovery — I’m absolutely done in.”