"Just brilliant to see Alaphilippe doing Alaphilippe things" - Experts share delight at former world champion's Giro d'Italia stage win
Cycling
Julian Alaphilippe is back and back with a bang. Taking his first Grand Tour stage win since the 2021 Tour de France, the former world champion soloed to a stunning success on stage 12 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, in a performance that many within the cycling world were delighted to see.
Sprint legend Robbie McEwen was covering the stage for Eurosport and the Australian was left gobsmacked by the Soudal - Quick-Step star's emphatic return to form after a quiet couple of years, where he was plagued with injury, illness and bad luck. "That is a ride for the ages," McEwen reflected on 'The Breakaway' post-stage for Eurosport. "Going out that early, that hard from a group with so much power behind it, the chances of success are pretty low. But there's a chance, and if you're Julian Alaphilippe all you need is a one in a million and he's pulled it off. It was incredible."
Riding in his typically aggressive and full-gas manner, Alaphilippe was on the attack for over 120 kilometres during the day, before finally arriving solo into Fano, 31 seconds clear of the INEOS Grenadiers' Jhonatan Narvaez at the line. Having already shown some positive signs with a 2nd placed finish on stage 6, where Movistar Team's Pelayo Sanchez took victory, Alaphilippe's return to form has been an emphatic silencing to his doubters.
"All the riders that are hugging him speaks volumes. He's a very-respected rider in the way that he's ridden in the start of his career up until now," adds Adam Blythe, pointing out how despite the lack of results in recent years, the love for the French talent has never dwindled.
No one has been more outspoken in their criticism of Alaphilippe in recent years than his team boss, Patrick Lefevere, with the controversial Belgian growing increasingly personal in his tirade of public criticism of his star. "I think the weight on his shoulders has been extremely heavy. [He's] one of the best-paid riders within that team, so he's expected to perform," says Blythe. "He has been through a lot, he's been questioned a lot, he's been given a lot of abuse from his boss towards not only him, his family. I think to come out of that the other side and just let the legs do the talking without saying anything to media, that is by far the best way to deal with it. Full chapeau to him, it's just brilliant to see Alaphilippe doing Alaphilippe things."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
Loading
Le voyage est souvent plus beau que la destination. Merci à tout l’équipe et aussi a mon companion du jour @mircomaestri9 pour cette journée avec le coeur, la tête et les jambes 🙌 Merci aussi à tous pour vos nombreux messages 🙏 La résilience, n’oubliez pas la résilience.
1 Comments