Julian Alaphilippe

Julian Alaphilippe was born on June 11, 1992, in Saint-Amand-Montrond, France. He began his cycling career in cyclo-cross, where he achieved a notable second place in the Junior World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 2010. His transition to road cycling began in 2012 with the amateur team Armée de Terre. During this period, he demonstrated strong potential, finishing eleventh overall at the Tour de Bretagne and securing second overall at the Coupe des nations Ville Saguenay, where he also won a stage. In 2013, riding for Etixx–IHNed, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step’s development team, Alaphilippe continued to build his profile, 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 won the final stage and points classification of the Tour de l’Avenir.

Alaphilippe joined Omega Pharma–Quick-Step in 2014, marking his professional debut at the Tour Down Under. His first professional victory came in Stage 4 of the Tour de l’Ain. The year 2015 proved to be a breakthrough, with second-place finishes at La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, both times behind Alejandro Valverde. He also won a stage and finished second overall at the Tour of California. In 2016, he won the Tour of California overall classification and earned a silver medal in the road race at the UEC European Championships. He placed fourth in the road race at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In 2017, he secured a stage win at the Vuelta a España, his first Grand Tour stage victory, and finished third at Milan–San Remo, being narrowly out-sprinted by Michał Kwiatkowski and Peter Sagan.

The years 2018 and 2019 saw Alaphilippe rise to prominence as a world-class rider. In 2018, he won La Flèche Wallonne, the Clásica de San Sebastián, the Tour of Britain (overall classification), and two stages of the Tour de France, where he also won the mountains classification. His 2019 season was highlighted by victories at Milan–San Remo, Strade Bianche, and a successful defense of his La Flèche Wallonne title. He also spent 14 days in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, winning two stages and ultimately finishing fifth overall. In 2020, Alaphilippe became the UCI World Road Champion, a title he successfully defended in 2021, becoming the first French male rider to win multiple world road race titles and the first rider since Peter Sagan to win in successive years. He won his first Giro d’Italia stage in 2024 and is set to join Tudor Pro Cycling Team from 2025 onwards.