Frenchman scores his 42nd pro win after a fantastic day of “pure cycling”.

On a day that no cycling fan will ever forget, Julian Alaphilippe took one of his finest wins, completing his set of stage victories in all three Grand Tours and showing once again that class is permanent. The embodiment of panache, Alaphilippe produced a sensational ride in the breakaway before arriving solo in Fano – after almost 140 kilometers on the attack – where he signed off Soudal Quick-Step’s second success at this Giro d’Italia.

“I am incredibly happy! It was my dream when I came to the start of my first Giro, and now, I can’t describe the feelings that I have.”

This victory means a lot to me.

“It took me some time to return at the top, but I always kept pushing and believing in myself, and I am happy I could do it today, at one of the most beautiful races in the world. It’s a special and emotional moment for me, a day I will forever remember”, an overwhelmed Alaphilippe said after his eighth Grand Tour win.

On a leg-sapping day in the Marche region, the two-time World Champion showed endless amounts of guts by joining the breakaway some 60 kilometers into the stage, after another fast start. Loulou remained there only for a couple of minutes, attacking on one of the numerous climbs that made up the course of stage 12, and immediately opened a gap. Joined by Mirco Maestri (Polti Kometa), Julian gave everything in the two-man break despite their chances looking slim at the moment they took off, with 125 kilometers to go.

The duo’s maximum gap hovered around two minutes, but that didn’t stop Julian and his Italian companion from working well together, trading turns at the front and remaining calm even when the nine-man chasing group trimmed their advantage to just a minute for the final 50 kilometers. Alaphilippe, who showed the same grit that has led him to so many memorable wins since turning pro with Soudal Quick-Step, continued to put in some long pulls and arrived at the bottom of the final hill with a margin of around 50 seconds.

On the double-digit gradients that began to bite in the opening kilometer of the ascent, Julian rode away and continued his exceptionally strong ride, cresting the top more than half a minute ahead of the chasers. The 31-year-old maintained that margin on the descent and arrived alone at the finish, where he celebrated one of the most jaw-dropping performances of his career, capping off a stunning ride that served as testament to his determination and remarkable fighting spirit.

“It wasn’t planned to go from the distance. Today was full gas from the start and my amazing team did a great job in the opening part of the stage, then I went all-out on the climbs and got a gap together with Mirco.”

I want to say chapeau to him, we worked well together and he too would have deserved to win.

“The advantage wasn’t big, but I felt good the entire stage, I raced with passion and grinta, and kept pushing until the final 500 meters, when I was finally sure of my win. Today was pure cycling, the kind of day that I love so much and that I will always remember”, said “Il Maestro” Julian after adding to his extraordinary legacy.

 

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

Race details

1 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
4:07:44
2 Jhonatan Narváez Prado
INEOS Grenadiers
0:31
3 Quinten Hermans
Alpecin - Deceuninck
0:32
4 Michael Valgren Andersen
EF Education - EasyPost
0:43
5 Christian Scaroni
Astana Qazaqstan Team
0:43
6 Matteo Trentin
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
1:30
7 Simon Clarke
Israel - Premier Tech
1:30
8 Gijs Leemreize
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
1:30
9 Mirco Maestri
Team Polti Kometa
1:30
10 Benjamin Thomas
Cofidis
1:30
38 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
5:25
54 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
7:16
74 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
11:03
140 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
13:16
141 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
13:16
142 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
13:16
143 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
13:16
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
45:22:35
2 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
2:40
3 Geraint Thomas
INEOS Grenadiers
2:56
4 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
3:39
5 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
4:27
6 Romain Bardet
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
4:57
7 Lorenzo Fortunato
Astana Qazaqstan Team
5:19
8 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
5:23
9 Einer Rubio Reyes
Movistar Team
5:28
10 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
5:52
11 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
5:57
32 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
35:59
44 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
51:32
85 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
1:46:22
131 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
2:24:51
143 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
2:38:42
150 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
2:43:33
152 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
2:46:21
1 Jonathan Milan
Lidl - Trek
229 pt
2 Kaden Groves
Alpecin - Deceuninck
166 pt
3 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
92 pt
4 Filippo Fiorelli
VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè
78 pt
5 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
74 pt
6 Andrea Pietrobon
Team Polti Kometa
68 pt
7 Jhonatan Narváez Prado
INEOS Grenadiers
63 pt
8 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
57 pt
9 Benjamin Thomas
Cofidis
57 pt
10 Michael Valgren Andersen
EF Education - EasyPost
52 pt
59 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
10 pt
85 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
2 pt
86 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
991 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
-34 pt
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
104 pt
2 Simon Geschke
Cofidis
59 pt
3 Valentin Paret-Peintre
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
55 pt
4 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
52 pt
5 Lilian Calmejane
Intermarché - Wanty
32 pt
6 Romain Bardet
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
32 pt
7 Geraint Thomas
INEOS Grenadiers
22 pt
8 Andrea Piccolo
EF Education - EasyPost
18 pt
9 Filippo Fiorelli
VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè
18 pt
10 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
17 pt
13 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
13 pt
991 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
-2 pt
1 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
45:27:02
2 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
0:56
3 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
1:25
4 Alex Baudin
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
2:11
5 Davide Piganzoli
Team Polti Kometa
7:03
6 Giovanni Aleotti
BORA - hansgrohe
9:48
7 Valentin Paret-Peintre
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
20:51
8 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
31:32
9 Edoardo Zambanini
Bahrain - Victorious
37:29
10 Kevin Vermaerke
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
38:41
43 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
2:20:24
1 Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 136:21:48
2 INEOS Grenadiers 2:13
3 BORA - hansgrohe 20:31
4 Astana Qazaqstan Team 25:22
5 UAE Team Emirates 27:10
6 VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè 40:21
7 EF Education - EasyPost 47:16
8 Movistar Team 48:02
9 Bahrain - Victorious 48:29
10 Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 50:27

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