Julian Alaphilippe had an eventful weekend in the Tour de France. The two-time world champion provided moments of humor, both intended and unintentional.
A female fan of Wout van Aert was surprised on Saturday when Alaphilippe suddenly rode towards her on the Tourmalet. The Frenchman from Tudor Pro Cycling snatched a piece of a cardboard sign with a declaration of love for Van Aert from her hands.
Alaphilippe tore off a piece and tucked it under his shirt. Riders used to do this with a newspaper, as a windbreaker in a long and cold descent. Cardboard works just as well, Alaphilippe must have thought.
The playful moment had a sequel. Van Aert made a cardboard sign before the start of Sunday’s stage with the text: “Alaf, give the sign back.”
Van Aert’s team, Visma-Lease a Bike, had tracked down the woman. She was allowed to take a photo with her idol and Alaphilippe.
Unintentional laughter for cheering for third place
Later in the day, Alaphilippe caused another laugh in the Tour de France, but this time unintentionally. The 33-year-old Frenchman beat Van Aert in the sprint for third place and then cheered as if he had won the stage. The Belgian looked at him strangely.
Alaphilippe had not realized that Tim Wellens had crossed the finish line more than a minute and a half earlier as the stage winner. Surprisingly, he also did not see that number two Victor Campenaerts was riding 100 meters ahead of him.
Alaphilippe attributed his unfortunate action to a crash earlier in the day. “After that, my radio stopped working,” said the six-time Tour stage winner to Sporza.
“I still had good legs and fought. But in the end, I still sprinted like crazy for what I thought was the victory.”
