
The crowd in Boulogne-sur-Mer briefly went wild when they saw Julian Alaphilippe on the front with five hundred metres to go on stage 2 of the Tour de France on Sunday. The French national hero was suddenly back at the sharp end of the race with a chance of winning the stage.
It felt like 2019 when the Frenchman won in Epernay, produced some aggressive, champagne cycling and wore the yellow jersey until the final mountain stages.