Tour of Britain

Julian Alaphilippe climbed to third overall at the Tour of Britain – a race he won in 2018 – after a fantastic day of racing, which had the riders take on the hilly roads to Redcar, a small seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast. Runner-up at the end of Wednesday’s 152.1km stage, Alaphilippe racked up his ninth podium of the season as he became Soudal Quick-Step’s best-placed rider in the general classification of the six-day race.

The combination of rain, wind and short hills made for an exciting stage, which opened up quite early, when a group containing Gil Gelders bridged across to the original breakaway. They were followed, soon after, by another group, this time featuring Julian Alaphilippe and Remco Evenepoel. The latter blew this reduced peloton with a massive acceleration which ended up making a significant selection that left only nine riders in the lead.

Evenepoel kept things together until inside ten kilometers to go, neutralising a series of attacks and paving the way for a move of his two-time World Champion teammate, who joined an important move on the last important climb of the day. This three-man group went all the way, holding off the chasers in Redcar, where Alaphilippe finished runner-up behind Stephen Williams (Israel-PremierTech).

“We had a plan for today, which was to take responsibility and go on the attack. Julian felt good and we rode for him. In the finale, one guy was faster, but Loulou made a big leap in the GC and can continue to go for a good result. I am here to support him, help the team as much as possible, push my limits and improve my form. I am happy with how things went so far and we will continue to try the next stages”, said Remco, who is one of the three Soudal Quick-Step riders in the top ten, alongside Julian and stage one winner Paul Magnier.

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