THE NOTICE
If you are a faithful listener of Europe 1, you already know all the good that Richard Virenque, 2nd of the Tour de France 1997 and seven times winner of the ranking of the mountain, think of Julian Alaphilippe. Our former consultant has always admired the potential of one who is one of his heirs, with the plume in cardinal value.
"I suspected he was going on a big tour because he came to see me this winter on holiday in Saint-Martin," he explained in The Club Tour , Sunday evening. "He surprised me, and I think the greatest moment in this Tour de France is the individual time trial, where he sublimated himself."
And to the question of whether Alaphilippe has the means to win the Tour one day, the former winner of Paris-Tours does not hesitate a single second. "Julian is able to win the Tour," he says. "He made us a hot start to the season, when this winter I had a moment with him, and he had really disconnected with the bike." He said to me, 'In the high mountains, in the Pyrenees, I'm going to explode "and you've seen what he did, he was there doing the sprints, being with the best, while he had never saved himself in the steps before. Because in general, someone who wants to win the Tour, he will not do the show on the flat or look for cans for his teammates sprinters. Julian, he gave everyone, so if he wants to win the Tour, he will have to change his way of doing things. It remains to be seen whether he will want to win it next season ... "
Heard on europe1:
When you want to win the Tour, you have to have a team around you
Obviously, if we stick to the statements of the runner, Sunday night, the arrival of the Tour, it will not be the case. "For the overall classification, maybe it will come in the years to come but for next year, I have in mind to discover the Tour of Flanders, and not at all the overall ranking of the Tour de France", said Alaphilippe Sunday night, falling within the logic of the manager of his team, Patrick Lefevere, for which it is already too late to build a team around him for 2019.
"When you want to win the Tour, you have to have a team around you," admits Richard Virenque. "When he was in the mountains, he had a leader (the Spanish driver Enric Mas) who became a teammate, but when you want to win the Tour, you have to hire real climbers, as the Ineos team does. talented runners around to win the Tour. " Richard Virenque believes that the problem is the same for Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).
Heard on europe1:
Marc Madiot must recruit for next year
"Marc Madiot ( manager of the team, ed ), he must really recruit for next year because Thibaut, he arrived on the Tour in great shape, he was at the top, but unfortunately, from the outset, when I looked at the numbers, I said to myself 'poor man, he will quickly be lonely' in the mountains, "says Richard Virenque. "Even though (David) Gaudu was there to accelerate, there were still fifteen riders in the favorites group at that time, and it was over after, there was no one left behind ..."
This year, Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas, from the same Ineos team, have often counted on the contribution of Wout Poels, and Steven Kruisjwijk (Jumbo-Visma), 3rd on the podium in Paris, had the support of George Bennett and Laurens De Plus until very late in the climbs.