Just a handful of months ago, Julian Alaphilippe had been written off by some. Since winning two consecutive road World Championships, the Frenchman had struggled to capture the form that saw him win in Imola in 2020, and Leuven a year later.
The 31-year-old seemed to be struck with the curse of the rainbow jersey, but that didn’t stop the critics from jumping on his misfortune, even those from within his own team.
