TDF 2020, Stage 2 Nice—Nice 186km
Julian Alaphilippe beats Mark Hirschi and Adam Yates in sprint to take stage honors and Yellow after mountainous Tour Stage
DENVER, CO—Dear Readers, are we really about to do this again…in any sort of capacity at all? Are we about to hop abroad the Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick Step) rollercoaster for another lap around France? Julian Alaphilippe has taken victory once again and grabbed back the maillot jaune that he looked O so good in last year. The man who embodies France’s greatest qualities is once more leading the Tour. I tell you, dear Readers, Dumas could not craft a more electric Frenchman. He is talented with such a fine poise. He is daring, some say even swashbuckling. He never surrenders and always keeps high spirits even in the rare cases of defeat. He rides with panache. He’s magnetic, but good-natured. His style is on point, compact, and efficient. And once again evidenced today, he rises to the occasion on the biggest of stages. When it comes to achieving success and glory, he is a grandmaster. I dare say if Athos, Porthos, and Aramis saw him, surely, they would have recruited Alaphilippe over D’Artagnan to join their inseparable three. Julian Alaphilippe, the Musketeer! I like it, I like it very much, dear Readers.
I was gathering my notes throughout the stage preparing in case I would have to write about the historic area around Nice with the day’s climbs up the mighty Col de Turini and the signature Col d’Eze, and then somehow link the race to Nice’s surprisingly most famous son, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Perhaps it could have been interesting, but the race gifted us with better headlines. We knew, all of us knew, this stage was tailor-made for our Musketeer…IF he was on top form! This actually was a real question, because Alaphilippe’s Strade Bianche was a wash as he punctured six, yes six, times in the most brutal race of the year thus far. His attack up the Poggio of Milan-Sanremo was so impressive, and perhaps there is no shame in losing a sprint to Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), but many must have thought 2019 Alaphilippe would have finished off that one with a “W.” Same with his third place at the French Nationals. And then quite frankly he was off the pace at the Dauphine, clearly not on top form. So after a fierce pace up Nice’s iconic Col d’Eze climb and then down a dizzying yet breathtakingly beautiful descent back into Nice, we came to crunch time of this stage. Up, up the uncategorized climb the peloton began to go. And there came to the front of the reduced peloton Bob Jungels (Deceuninck – Quick Step) pacing his teammate, our Musketeer, Alaphilippe. Here on Stage 2 the questions surrounding Julian Alaphilippe’s form would be answered. Of course, he was here towards the front ready to try something, he is a showman, this is what he does; really he had an unspoken obligation to fulfill for the cycling community, he had to attack, but would he pull it off? At the top of the uncategorized climb were 8, 5, and 2 second time bonuses for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Then a quick descent and flat sprint into the heart of downtown Nice. Quickstep had ridden many kilometers for him already, now it was time to see Alaphilippe, the bookie’s favorite, bring home the bacon. But could he? Or was someone stronger in the field? 4 km from the top of the uncategorized climb, 12 km remaining in the stage, Alaphilippe launched out of the peloton. He immediately formed a gap, who could respond? Young Marc Hirschi (Sunweb) was the only rider to hop onto his wheel. Within a kilometer, the two, though our Musketeer did all of the pacing, had a 12 second gap on the peloton—who were not taking it easy. Yes, the question of who would win the stage was still high up in the air, but the question of whether Julian Alaphilippe was on good form was answered in that moment.
Yes, now that we could confirm Alaphilippe was on top form, déjà vu streamed over us. “Ah! The way this Musketeer attacked out of the peloton so far out, why it reminds me of his audacious attack last year into Epernay where he donned the maillot jaune for the first time in his career! Are we watching a replay?” surely that is what we all thought in the moment, is it not? And then Adam Yates (Michelton-Scott) bridged across to Hirschi and our Musketeer. Yates looked good, confident and comfortable, and even shared turns on the front with the Musketeer. Hirschi, it must be noted, did no work for this group at all—a fair strategy in such elite company. The three built up a lead of 21 seconds over the peloton, where was Jumbo? Where was Ineos? After the carnage of yesterday and the mighty Colmaine and Turini climbs today, domestiques were hard to come by, it seems. Then they approached the crest where the line for the Time Bonuses was situated. Our Musketeer wound up his sprint. But Yates was flying today, matching him pedal stroke for pedal stroke. And across the line it was Yates who took the 8 second prize, Alaphilippe only 5 seconds. Echoes and visions of the run into St. Etienne from last year flashed into our minds: when Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) soloed to the finish, but right behind him on the finishing straight were Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and our Musketeer who had shot like bullets out of the peloton on a similar little climb containing such Time Bonuses. The two had worked together to steal almost half a minute from the other GC favorites, putting Alaphilippe back into Yellow for his legendary deep run of last year. It all comes back to you now, right, dear Readers? But today, over the top, Hirschi was still in touch with Yates and Alaphilippe and the three regrouped for the descent to the finish.
O! What a descent it was! Is there any area in the world more beautiful for cycling than these cols around Nice? Truly, for me, dear Readers, this area takes the blue ribbon for most beautiful scenery in the world. These towns built into the forested mountain sides and in between the ruins of ancient castles, the houses and chateaus precariously situated and perfectly constructed on the most scenic outcrops, the medieval chapels on the dazzling heights, and the beautiful vistas the copters captured of the city below nestled on the Mediterranean shore illuminated by the golden hour rays of the Sun. Yes, we were treated to all this today and more. For as I said, one final harrowing descent had to be made back into the heart of Nice. The winding narrow road plunged and zig-zagged down the valley and passed the outskirt homes of Nice. The hairpins were intense, every rider was dialed in. Dear Readers, I could have sworn Milan-Sanremo was three weeks ago…you see what I mean, the déjà vu of such a stage, this was a Poggio-esque descent. Our palms began to sweat, we could feel our hearts beating, we sat up in our seats. Yes, we had all watched the Musketeer go down such a descent before to perfection when he won the 2019 Milan-Sanremo in his electrifying fashion. But as was said, he lost Sanremo this year, just three weeks ago, by half a wheel. “He’s on better form now, but Yates looks good and Hirschi must be saving up for a sprint—and he’s shown a quick pair of wheels at a finish before!” we all thought. “And what about the peloton behind? They will need good cooperation off front to stay away, they have no time to play with!”
Credit to Adam Yates this day, because on the descent he did his fair share of the work, rotating with Alaphilippe like clockwork. Even into the last K, they continued sharing the work, for the peloton was bearing down. But with 700 meters to go, the Musketeer finished his turn and came off the front, Yates was forced into the lead. Alaphilippe on his wheel. Hirschi sitting third like an assassin eyeing them both. The cohesion had been broken, the cat-and-mousing was on as Yates slowed the tempo as they passed the 600 meters sign. 500 meters, 400 meters, Yates was still stuck on the front; alas! at this point he probably knew we was about to get rolled. With 300 meters to go, the peloton was clearly breathing down their necks, but they had to leave the sprint late for they were being hit by a block headwind. Was Alaphilippe waiting for Hirschi to launch something? The Musketeer needed to do something soon unless he wanted to gift the win to the peloton! Finally, with 200 meters to go, the Musketeer launched. A strong move it was, he looked good. But the headwind was strong, and Hirschi was not completely distanced…in fact he got fully into the Musketeer’s slipstream and almost came around him, less than a wheel separated them at the finish. But Alaphilippe, the Musketeer, knew he had won: he lifted his right hand, kissed his index finger and pointed to the sky. He sat up and celebrated, with the 10 second time bonus at the line, 15 seconds total was subtracted off his total time compared to Yates’ 12 seconds; they and the GC favorites were all even on time to start the day so with those bonuses and Kristoff minutes behind, the Musketeer donned Yellow again.
He was emotional at the line. He was tearing up during the winner’s television interview. His dad had passed away in June, this win was dedicated to him. Surely, the kiss of the finger and the pointing up was in recognition of him. Julian, I am sorry for your loss, but surely your father was looking down on you today. High above, he is pointing back down, telling all around him, “That’s my son! Look at him! You have seen how hard he has worked and now look at him. At the top of his sport. Beloved by all of France. Congratulations to him, could a father be prouder?” No, congratulations to you, Mr. Alaphilippe, for you raised such a son.
So where does this leave us, dear Readers? As I asked at the beginning, are we about to do this rollercoaster all over again? Let me say something we all know, but maybe has never been explicitly said. I speak for 100% of cycling fans when I say this: Julian Alaphilippe is part of that exclusive club—to which only a handful of riders have a membership—where every day he wins is a great day. Everyone is in a better mood when they see an Alaphilippe win, they walk around a tiptoe taller for the rest of the day. This is objective fact, for two reasons. First, we are happy for him because he is a good guy with an electric personality. And then second, the wins themselves are electrifying: maybe one is impressive, maybe another is nail-biting, maybe a third one is mesmerizing; the majority of the time they are all three at once. And now, dear Readers, you remember the full context of the atmosphere of last year’s Tour. When the Tour entered the Pyrenees and Alaphilippe not only retained Yellow, but unexpectedly extended his lead by winning the Pau time-trial. O! Remember how the fixed camera captured the image of him bossing his way up the final hill, cutting right, down the finishing stretch. How he crossed the line, skidded to a halt, hopped off his bike and bounced around hugging his whole support crew! And then the next day when he rode with the very best climbers and GC men to the top of Tourmalet, the lord of all Pyrenean climbs. All the way to the Alps he wore that Yellow jersey, capturing every heart in France. Alas! We knew he was cracking on that first Alpine stage as he was dropped a few kilometers from the summit of the Galibier, but the way he handled himself down that descent into the finish. How he caught his GC rivals, silkily weaved his way between them like a sewing needle to the front of the group, and manhandled the rest of the descent like a heavy stone all the way down. And then the final great “alas!” came the day after when he finally cracked beyond recovery on the Iseran. He was so close! Two days from Paris! All of France behind him! Thirty-five years they’ve been waiting!
And here we are again, will we be blessed and cursed to repeat this? How long will the stint in Yellow be this year? The competition is as good and deep as it was last year, if not more so this year. And yet, you look at this course with its relentless ups and downs, one made for such an opportunist as our Alaphilippe. If ever he had a chance to finish off the job, this would be the year. But yet again will the highest passes be too high for him? His team support is lacking again, as well. I take a deep breath at the prospect of doing this again—even though it is only Stage 2—surely we all know he will be in Yellow for more than a handful of days. I loved every minute of it last July, but it took such an emotional investment, am I really prepared to handle that again for three weeks? Last year’s Tour was chaotic, nerve-racking, breathtaking, and all-consuming, do we really want another round of that?
O! Who am I kidding, of course we do! Long live the Musketeer!
Cycling Odysseys 