Julian (Juju) Alaphilippe
 

Probably the most exciting rider since Peter Sagan and a lot more likeable IMO.

You may have noticed the placards people are holding at the side of the road reading 'JUJU' his nickname.

Another piece of trivia is that he started his career as a soldier riding for the French Army in their now defunct team Armée de Terre.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e17a1313ae.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm%C3...(cycling_team)

Will he win the 2019 TdF? I'd love it if he did as I think it would be great for cycling and not just for cycling in France. But will he? I'm not so sure.

I hope he can win some how. We will see in the big mountain stages. His team needs to support him over their sprinter at this point in the tour.

All the guys on NBCSN are basically saying he's not a threat for GC. But he has won the polka dot jersey in the past and is wearing yellow so I say yes, he's a threat for GC. His limitation is likely the ITT unless he's got enough of a gap on Thomas, Pinot, etc.

He's obviously been such a spark to many races in the last year or so, he really is on form for the Tour. Because of his small stature, I sort of assumed he was a climbing specialist, but he seems to quickly say he isn't. There's a lot of Tour left, and I have no predictions. . . except it's going to continue to be a great race.

I agree that the individual time trail could be a problem.

If you look at his most recent TT result which was in the Dauphiné, stage 4 was a 26.1km TT (the TT next Friday is 27kms with a similar profile) and he was 7th 9secs down on Dumoulin who was 3rd.

So he's capable of a good TT.

I think his main problem will be with the long climbs at high altitude where we could see him dropping off the leading bunch in the last few kms. If that happens he could lose a lot of time in a single stage.

So, what exactly do you find about Sagan as not likeable?

I'd venture to say your negative opinion of him would be in the minority of all cycling fans, as he's clearly a fan favorite.

What I find dis-likable is that he tries too hard to be liked. Probably his focus is on the younger fan and it's among them he's most popular I'd venture to say.

LOL ...that's rather funny. You sure you're not confusing "tries too hard to be liked" with being charismatic?

I think he's just well liked. How does he try too hard?

This is also a short time trial which may help. Has his team burnt too many matches in the first week of the tour?

He's doing a lot of work on the front of the peleton for guy who's supposedly going for GC. My guess is he just wants to stay in yellow for as long as he can but knows he won't be in it by Paris.

As for Juju. CVV, Horn, and Jens seem to agree with most here that the ITT and big mountains will be his downfall. Haven't heard what Phil andBobkre think.


Regarding Peter S. . I don't think he's trying to impress anyone, be funny, or likable. IMO it's just his personality, which combined with his biking skills is what makes me a fan. As for how he relates to the fans and especially the kids, he addressed that in one of his interviews last year. I took it that he thinks that maybe most of the peleton is too busy (elite maybe) to stop and interact with them (say hey, give some sort of recognition, sign autographs, etc.) but that he feels the fans deserve that. Yeah uh, so maybe is good for future cycling, Yeah ? LOL

As I've already posted I think his problem will be more the real mountain stages than the TT.

Well they got the ITT wrong.

Apparently in last year's tour Julian was the first to the summit of the Tourmalet. Obviously different scenario than this year but perhaps a glimpse into what he could do today.

I hope somehow he maintains strength through the high mountain stages. He certainly has good mojo right now.

WHAT a stage today. Boy I hope he can stay even w/ climbers for remaining stages.

From a spectator's perspective, JA has excelled in the rolling hills. He shocked the cycling world in the ITT. He has stayed with the best of 'em in the flat sprints, and yes ...even in the mountainous stages (so far).

The question is...why wouldn't he have a legitimate shot at this whole shebang??

Is it just a matter of his endurance being questioned? Because if that's it, seems to me he's one driven and determined competitor, that's in tip-top shape.

I'd say if he doesn't have some kind of misfortune, it's gonna be mighty hard to pry that yellow jersey off his back.

Just checked out the final GC standings from this years tour of Columbia, Juju was only three seconds off Rigo :eek:

Seems like most everyone here in this forum will be mighty disappointed if JA doesn't win it at this point. Definitely a fan favorite.

I supposed I failed to mention in my last post above ...how the whole team concept and race strategies will play a big part in this equation as well. Hopefully, if DQS doesn't have the manpower to handle GT and Ineos, they at least have enough smarts to hang with them strategy wise.

Second day of "The start of the real mountains" and he's still got the Yellow. It seems the guys in the boothe have a lot wrong so far.

I think Alaphilippe could do it (if he can keep it together and survive the itt). If he falters, I think Pinot could pull the time gap and be a close contender.

Negatory on that. I met Sagan a few years back at the ATOC when I was able to snag a VIP pass for the stage in Thousand Oaks. Sagan took time to talk to everyone there.

Really nice guy.

It seems to me that The guys in the booth, at least in the ad-free feed, have a very English-Aussie-Kiwi centric bias.

They can’t stop fawning over the so-called great Ineos team.

I find myself turning off the volume.

I miss Sherwin and I miss the Sherwin-Ligget combo.