Alaphilippe silenced his own team during monstrous breakaway: "Passion and grinta!'

A particularly beautiful victory for Julian Alaphilippe in the Giro d'Italia. The Frenchman of Soudal Quick-Step attacked early on in the stage to Fano, found a course that suited him perfectly, and stayed ahead of the other riders in pursuit for a whopping 126 kilometers. When he also managed to drop his breakaway companion Mirco Maestri, he crossed the finish solo. This was no ordinary victory, as fellow escapees and even Tadej Pogacar acknowledged. Alaphilippe and his team reacted exuberantly.

"I hadn't planned this at all. I expected a large group to want to attack. I think I first have to thank my team. They controlled the first sixty kilometers perfectly to get through the first phase well. After that, I wanted to be at the front," the stage winner said in the flash interview.

His breakaway was successful, but Alaphilippe had only the Italian Maestri (Polti-Kometa) join him. Team leader Geert Van Bondt admitted to Eurosport that the team didn't find that ideal. "It was a bit of an awkward situation for us, with only two men at the front. However, he said he wanted to continue and see where he would end up, even though it wasn't easy with 36 men chasing him. Luckily, he had a strong man with him, and Julian really had a great ride."

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Maestri helps Alaphilippe achieve beautiful trilogy

The fact that the two ultimately stayed out of the grasp of a massive group behind was due to Alaphilippe's wonder legs and Maestri's help. He continued to take strong turns in the lead all the way up until the finale, with Alaphilippe allowing him to collect all the intermediate sprints and mountain classification points. On the final climb of the day, the Frenchman eventually rode away from him. "We went for it together, and I just said, "we go, we go!" That happened. He also deserved to win. He was fantastic, and we worked so well together," he said in praise. "I believed on that last climb that I could win, but I went full throttle until the last kilometer."

"I heard that Narváez was still very close," the springboard and two-time world champion said, referring to the winner of the first stage and the top favorite for the wall stage. "It was my dream to win a stage in the Giro, and now I am really very happy." Understandably, because with this stage win, Alaphilippe has now won a stage in all three grand tours. "This means a lot to him. I shouted several times on the radio that he is now in an elite club of riders who have achieved stage wins in all three grand tours. He is very happy with that, and so are we as a team," Van Bondt said about the motivation during the race.

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Alaphilippe has seen tough days, but strikes back with "passion and grinta"

Achieving a stage win in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta is fantastic, but many cycling fans will have cheered for the stage win on day twelve, especially considering all the adversity Alaphilippe faced in recent years. After successfully defending his world title in 2021, things went downhill quickly. Hard crashes, severe injuries and some verbal wars with team boss Patrick Lefevere led to significantly fewer wins and often racing in anonymity. "Julian has always been a fighter, even though the last two years have not been fantastic and difficult for him. He kept going, and his performance in the first week of this Giro indicated a fighting spirit. He believes in himself, and what he did today shows his worth," De Bondt cheered.

During the post-race press conference, Alaphilippe agreed that he has indeed come a long way. However, he took the Giro as an opportunity to race like he used to. "The way I raced today is how I love to cycle. I didn't plan this, but I tried to win a stage from the start. On day one, I didn't have the legs, but I kept pushing, and this is a beautiful way to win. I race with passion and grinta, and I felt my form improving in recent weeks. That was a good sign for the Giro, although even in top form, it's still difficult to win a stage here. That's why I kept going until 500 meters from the finish because I was afraid Narváez would come back."

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Hirt was virtually on the podium for a bit, but is especially happy for teammate: "Stage win was the goal"

There was no need to worry, the stage victory was secured! The fact that Jan Hirt also moved into the breakaway and briefly virtually rode in third place in the Giro was of secondary importance. "The stage win was the main goal, so Mauri Vansevenant and I tried to keep everyone together in the group," the Czech rider referred to the strong, large group. That ultimately didn't work out. "The group broke up in the end, and we weren't there anymore, but fortunately, Julian stayed ahead."

After that, it was a quick shift for Hirt, who saw his own chances of moving up in the GC diminish. "Gaining time in the classification was an opportunity that presented itself, but in the end, we were caught by the peloton. Julian is a two-time world champion, one of the best riders in the world. This is his first Giro stage win, so it's a beautiful day for him and the team," concluded the man who is firmly in the race for the top ten.

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