The future of Julian Alaphilippe

A little shrug, a head tilt, and a “pfft” noise is French for anything from “we shall see,” to “why not,” to “of course,” to “it’s out of my hands,” depending on context. Julian Alaphilippe has used the gesture in every press conference since he took the lead at the Amgen Tour of California, usually in response to questions about retaining his overall lead. He didn’t know what was possible, truly. His guess was as good as ours. That is, until Friday, when we all found out together.

Or did we?

The young Frenchman rode an impressive time trial in Folsom, finishing in eighth, 45 seconds behind BMC’s Rohan Dennis. “It was very special for me today, I have never been the last rider to go, with the yellow jersey, in a time trial,” he said. The result is that Alaphilippe retains his yellow jersey by 16 seconds over Dennis, who has just two opportunities remaining to close the gap. Neither looks particularly promising for overhauling the Frenchman: a difficult day in Santa Rosa that ends with a flat finish, and a flat circuit in Sacramento. Alaphilippe has likely hopped the largest hurdle on his way to the first stage race victory of his career.

Riding so well in a weeklong …

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