Two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe was on African soil this week and ‘motivated’ by several factors to lead the eight-rider French team in the elite men’s road race on Sunday in Kigali. He used the two weeks after winning Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec until the UCI Road World Championships to recover from an illness and adjust to the higher elevation and heat in Rwanda.
The 33-year-old veteran began the year with an adjustment to a new team, departing the QuickStep programme after 11 years at the WorldTour level and moving to the ProTeam level with Tudor Pro Cycling. He put 61 race days in his legs before the win in Québec, building confidence for a 10th appearance in the elite road race.
He laughed at the reference to the first time he raised his arms, thinking he had won stage 15 in Carcassonne at the Tour de France, when two other riders ahead had already crossed the finish line. He then finished third overall at Tour of Britain Men and won in Québec. But the momentum was halted when he could not finish the one-day UCI race in Montréal due to illness.
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