Alaphilippe: "The peak of my career"

What place does this rainbow jersey have in your career?

Each time, there are different emotions, winning big races, a monument, stages of the Tour, wearing the yellow jersey.

But, the rainbow jersey is the top.

It was the race that made me dream the most.

It's hard to describe the feeling of having realized your dream, it was the dream of my career.

I want to thank the team for all their work.

I said we had to make the race hard.

After, the attack on Pogacar, the work of the Belgians and the Swiss, it was the right scenario for us.

I knew I had to give the maximum on the last climb.

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Is this title special after this very special year?

Does he have a taste of revenge for you?

There is no feeling of revenge.

It's just an emotion that feels very good in a year where there have been a lot of ups and downs.

I will focus on the fact that this is the culmination of a lot of work.

How did you cope with these difficult times?

I think everyone goes through difficult times in life.

I was not spared by that, you always have to find the strength to move forward, always get up when you slap.

I always had this strength in me to keep going when nothing was going right.

Often, we only remember the victories.

But the harder times have served for today.

"I want to take the time to realize what it feels like to have this swimsuit on my shoulders, I dreamed of that so much!"

Are you going to think of the Tour de France now?

Not at the moment, it's not something that I have placed in my career, at least in the short term.

I don't have it in mind.

In recent years, I had several goals, including the world championship.

I remember having already arrived at the world championships in the role of leader, on courses which corresponded to me well, with many elements which made that it could have worked but it did not work.

But it's something that made me grow and move forward.

Today, it is an outcome.

I want to take the time to realize what it feels like to have this swimsuit on my shoulders, I dreamed of that so much!

What do you expect from the Tour of Flanders that you will be running soon (October 18)?

I have no idea what I can do in the Tour of Flanders.

The main goal is to discover, to have fun.

He will arrive after the Ardennes classics.

Normally, I am focused on the Ardennes.

There, I will do all the Ardennes and finish with the Tour of Flanders.

This is a good year to gain experience, to discover it without pressure and without stress.

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