Julian Alaphilippe after his brilliant stage win: "Rediscovering the taste of victory, especially here at the Dauphiné, feels great"

Julian Alaphilippe took a great victory in the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The French rider of Soudal Quick-Step, after a very complicated spring, beat Richard Carapaz in a beautiful finish after which he shows that he has great legs for the next Tour de France.

"It has been very difficult to find, but very satisfying. I've worked very hard this last month. Rediscovering the taste of victory, especially here at the Dauphiné, feels really good," he said in a post-race interview.

Alaphilippe revealed how he was not the man chosen to contest the finish for Soudal - Quick-Step today, but rather the third or fourth choice but found himself in the right place at the right time.

"I was surprised, the truth is that the initial plan was to prepare the sprint for Ethan Vernon and if it was too hard for him then it was for Florian, for Andrea Bagioli or for me and I ended up finding myself in a situation that I hadn't been in for a long time. A few kilometres from the finish Ethan crashed and Florian told me that he had given everything and I didn't see Andrea. I had legs, everyone had legs and I knew how to make my effort at the right time."

He finished by commenting that he was feeling good and with good legs: "I have already achieved my objective, I wanted a victory here, now I am calmly facing the rest of the week and we will see if we can get another victory."