Julian Alaphilippe

Julian Alaphilippe is a highly accomplished French professional road cyclist, a two-time UCI World Road Champion, and a former cyclo-cross racer. After securing second place in the Junior World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 2010, Julian Alaphilippe went on to establish himself as a dominant force in professional road cycling. His transition to road racing began in 2012 with the amateur team Armée de Terre, where he demonstrated early potential by finishing eleventh overall at the Tour de Bretagne and second overall at the Coupe des nations Ville Saguenay, including a stage win. In 2013, riding for Etixx–IHNed, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step’s development team, Alaphilippe further developed his skills, winning a stage at the Tour de Bretagne, placing fourth in the European Road Race Championships, and ninth in the UCI Road World Under-23 Championships.

He also secured the final stage and points classification of the Tour de l’Avenir. Alaphilippe made his professional debut with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step in 2014 at the Tour Down Under, achieving his first professional victory in Stage 4 of the Tour de l’Ain that same year. 2015 marked a significant breakthrough, highlighted by second-place finishes at both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, narrowly behind Alejandro Valverde in both prestigious classics. He also won a stage and finished second overall at the Tour of California.

He successfully defended this esteemed title in 2021, making him the first French male rider to win multiple world road race championships and the first rider since Peter Sagan to achieve successive victories. In 2024, he continued to add to his Grand Tour palmarès with his first stage win at the Giro d’Italia. Looking ahead, Alaphilippe is set to join the Tudor Pro Cycling Team from the 2025 season, continuing his illustrious career at the highest level of professional cycling.