The 32-year-old finished sixth on day two of the Czech Tour.

Julian Alaphilippe was the first Soudal Quick-Step rider home on the second stage of the race, which scheduled a summit finish on the hard Pustevny, a 7.9km climb averaging 5.9%. The Frenchman, who returned to competition here for the first time since June’s National Championships, was one of the most active riders of the day and concluded sixth, a result which elevated him to the top ten overall.

The two-time World Champion went on the attack early, taking maximum points on the first classified ascent of the day and trying to form a breakaway in what was an action-packed start. The peloton reacted to this move and kept things together for more than 40 kilometers, despite the numerous attempts that came on the hilly terrain. When things eventually settled down, Soudal Quick-Step moved to the front of the bunch to set the tempo behind the four-man group up the road and protect yellow jersey Luke Lamperti, who put in a resilient display, managing to stay there until the first ascent of Pustevny.

Our team continued to push the pace and bring back the escapees, thanks to a stellar work of James Knox and Mattia Cattaneo, while Antoine Huby made sure of bringing Alaphilippe in a good position before the start of the day’s final difficulty. As the gradients kicked up, Julian remained well-placed and kept his calm despite the many accelerations that came, and managed to come home in a strong sixth behind stage winner Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates).

Seventh on the general classification of the Czech Tour, Alaphilippe is the highest-ranked Soudal Quick-Step rider ahead of the race’s second summit finish, on Dlouhe strane.

 

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images

Race details

1 Marc Hirschi
UAE Team Emirates
4:17:42
2 Diego Ulissi
UAE Team Emirates
0:11
3 Sergio Higuita García
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
0:14
4 Kevin Vermaerke
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
0:17
5 Matteo Fabbro
Team Polti Kometa
0:17
6 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
0:17
7 Marco Brenner
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
0:17
8 Mark Donovan
Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
0:17
9 Kamiel Bonneu
Team Flanders - Baloise
0:17
10 Michael Storer
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
0:17
54 Antoine Huby
Soudal Quick-Step
5:37
63 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
8:58
72 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
12:40
116 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
22:29
128 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
24:26
136 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
25:45
1 Marc Hirschi
UAE Team Emirates
7:47:57
2 Diego Ulissi
UAE Team Emirates
0:15
3 Sergio Higuita García
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
0:20
4 Kevin Vermaerke
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
0:27
5 Marco Brenner
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
0:27
6 Matteo Fabbro
Team Polti Kometa
0:27
7 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
0:27
8 Mark Donovan
Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
0:27
9 Michael Storer
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
0:27
10 Kamiel Bonneu
Team Flanders - Baloise
0:27
54 Antoine Huby
Soudal Quick-Step
5:47
62 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
9:08
72 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
12:50
119 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
22:39
128 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
24:26
136 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
25:55
1 Marc Hirschi
UAE Team Emirates
25 pt
2 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
25 pt
3 Maikel Zijlaard
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
24 pt
4 Pavel Bittner
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
24 pt
5 Diego Ulissi
UAE Team Emirates
20 pt
6 Sergio Higuita García
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
16 pt
7 Itamar Einhorn
Israel Premier Tech Academy
16 pt
8 Kevin Vermaerke
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
15 pt
9 Matteo Fabbro
Team Polti Kometa
12 pt
10 Juan Sebastián Molano Benavides
UAE Team Emirates
12 pt
12 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
10 pt
1 Michal Schuran
ATT Investments
14 pt
2 Marc Hirschi
UAE Team Emirates
8 pt
3 Paul Double
Team Polti Kometa
8 pt
4 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
6 pt
5 Tomáš Kalojíros
Pierre Baguette Cycling
6 pt
6 Diego Ulissi
UAE Team Emirates
6 pt
7 Sergio Higuita García
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
4 pt
8 Kevin Vermaerke
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
4 pt
9 Marco Brenner
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
4 pt
10 Ben Zwiehoff
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
4 pt
1 Marco Brenner
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
7:48:24
2 Alexander Hajek
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
0:12
3 Andrew August
INEOS Grenadiers
0:16
4 Johannes Staune-Mittet
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:49
5 Giacomo Villa
Bingoal WB
0:52
6 Mats Wenzel
Lidl - Trek Future Racing
0:52
7 Andrii Ponomar
Team Corratec - Vini Fantini
1:35
8 Finlay Pickering
Bahrain - Victorious
2:42
9 Moritz Kretschy
Israel Premier Tech Academy
2:49
10 Viggo Moore
Israel Premier Tech Academy
3:03
33 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
23:59
1 Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 23:25:45
2 Team Polti Kometa 1:27
3 Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team 1:51
4 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 2:00
5 Team Corratec - Vini Fantini 2:59
6 Tudor Pro Cycling Team 3:20
7 UAE Team Emirates 3:47
8 Uno-X Mobility 4:24
9 Intermarché - Wanty 4:28
10 Team Flanders - Baloise 4:29

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