Four weeks ago, Julian Alaphilippe flopped to the tarmac just by my feet at the top of Alpe d’Huez. The Frenchman wasn’t high up my list of people to speak to at the finish line of the penultimate stage of the Tour de France, but it soon became clear he couldn’t be ignored.
With his arms stretched out behind him, and the media swarming the new French hope Paul Seixas in front of him, Alaphilippe sat staring into the middle distance.
