The Belgian public is not resentful: he hoped for a victory from Wout Van Aert but after having whistled him out of spite on the line and threw a few drops of beer on his arrival, he made a triumph to the rainbow king Julian Alaphilippe.
On the Place de Louvain, the Frenchman communicated with the thousands of spectators gathered on the main square of the city.
The organizers said that a million people gathered on the roadsides of the 2021 World Cup and that they were at least 350,000 on Sunday on the circuit.
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- Tomas Van Den Spiegel (@tomasvds) September 26, 2021
Most stayed late to pay homage to the rainbow double jersey.
Julian Alaphilippe took part in a bewildering “clapping” with the crowd just after the medal ceremony.
A moment worthy of a rock concert which was only the beginning of the festivities for little Nino's dad.
The caterpillar on the music of the "Lakes of Connemara"
Once all his numerous media obligations had been honored, the hero of the day disembarked around 8 pm at his hotel, the “Best Western” in Wavre in the great suburbs of Brussels. Before his arrival, Valentin Madouas, the only survivor of the 2020 World Cup in Imola in the blue clan, had already started hostilities by launching the first songs in tribute to his road captain. When Alaphilippe got out of the French federation's press car with his partner Marion Rousse, everything was already ready for a giant party. The tricolor clan first met in the bus to open a few good bottles of sparkling wine and the double world champion warmly thanked his teammates who he would not have managed to double.
A week before Paris-Roubaix, Arnaud Demare and Florian Sénéchal who will be at the start of Compiègne on Sunday did not make old bones but all the rest of the gang then started a crazy evening.
The restaurant room of the "Best Western" was transformed into a nightclub on hits from the 1980s. Thomas Voeckler quickly put in his pocket his speech of thanks and congratulations that no one at that time really had. want to listen.
Attack by Benoit Cosnefroy!
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- The Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) September 26, 2021
Collective united.
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- The Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) September 26, 2021
Like everyone else, the coach pushed the tables to start a "caterpillar" with the timeless sound of "Lakes of Connemara" by Michel Sardou.
Voeckler also forgot his dislocation in his shoulder contracted during the day for having given a bottle during the race to Demare.
And Julian Alaphilippe had also forgotten that his season is not over yet.
He will be putting on his beautiful jersey in two weeks at the Tour of Lombardy but in the dead of night, on an evening that was just beginning and ended in the wee hours of the morning, he didn't have much to do.
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