Julian Alaphilippe was divested of the yellow jersey, but not without fighting like a warrior on the Col de l’Iseran, the roof of this year’s race.
Stage 19 will definitely go down in the history of the Tour de France, after a hailstorm caused severe mudslides that prompted the organisers to stop it prematurely, more than 30 kilometers from the finish in Tignes. At that point, the race was in full swing, with Julian Alaphilippe frantically chasing the riders at the front after being distanced with five kilometers to go to the top of the excruciating climb first used in Le Tour more than eight decades ago.
A brutal pace as soon as the race exited the neutralised zone splintered the peloton, leaving around 30 men in pursuit of the 24 escapees, which Kasper Asgreen made sure of not giving too much leeway. At the bottom of Iseran, other teams took over and set a relentless tempo, which nullified the break and reduced the yellow jersey group to eight riders. An attack of Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) soon came and the Colombian distanced all his opponents, going first over the top of the ascent.
Despite being gapped, Julian Alaphilippe put in an astonishing effort to limit the damage, stomping on the pedals and emptying himself on the double-digit gradients on his way to the summit (2770 meters), which he crested two minutes behind the leader. Immediately, he started a mad pursuit on the descent, cutting the deficit by 15 seconds and putting another ride that will long live in memory, when news emerged from the race organisers that the hailstorm forced them to cut the stage.
After 14 memorable days (which brought also two emphatic stage victories) in the iconic maillot jaune – a record for a Frenchman at a single edition in the last 34 years – Julian had to concede the overall lead, with the official timing being taken at the top of the Iseran; this means that Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s rider, by far the main story of this year’s race, which he had shaped over the past weeks, sits now in second place, less than a minute behind the new leader.
Sports director Tom Steels took us through those hectic final kilometers: “We knew it was going to be a tough day, but it turned out to be also an unusual one. On the descent, when Julian was going full gas, they told us to stop racing and I had to repeat it several times to Julian in the radio. We realised we had lost the yellow jersey, but it’s a pity it happened in such a strange way, just as it’s a pity that they had to take this decision after what has been a great Tour. Anyway, it was a wise thing to do for the safety of the riders, you could see that from what was going on down the road. Despite what happened, we can be really proud of our race! The entire team fought hard, Julian gave everything and was a tremendous entertainer, and I’m sure people will remember this edition more for him than for that happened today.”
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
