Julian Alaphilippe showed his aptitude for the Tour of Flanders on his ill-fated debut in the autumn of 2020, when he found himself in the winning break with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert only to clip a motorbike and crash out of the race.
The Frenchman’s relationship with the Ronde has never really recovered. The following Spring, he was relatively subdued as his teammate Kasper Asgreen claimed victory. Last year, another crash compromised his race, and he rolled him an anonymous 51st.
