REACTION
This time he cracked. Julian Alaphilippe conceded more than two minutes to Egan Bernal at the top of the Iseran, an unforeseen term of the 19th stage that was to link Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Tignes, and sold his Yellow Jersey leader of the Tour de France. "I expected, I gave the maximum, I can not have regrets," said the French team Deceuninck-Quick Step again at the microphone of France Televisions. "It was a dream to wear it, I carried this dream much longer than expected and I fought every day to keep it." It had been eleven days that Alaphilippe wore the famous golden tunic, having already worn for three days at the beginning of the Tour.
"I never thought I could win the Tour"
But this time, he does not think to recover it. "I do not think that the yellow jersey (in Paris) is possible, I was beaten by stronger than me, it's like that," said the world No. 1 after the final stopping of the stage , 25 kilometers from the expected arrival in Tignes, because of a hailstorm that made the road impassable. "From the moment I put on the yellow jersey, I started to dream but I never thought I could win the Tour." Now second behind Bernal in the general standings on the eve of the last alpine stage, Alaphilippe will have to defend his place as a dolphin, which he is particularly coveted by Bernal's team, Geraint Thomas, winner of the Great Loop.