Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was recognised as the rider of the year over the weekend as he won the prestigious Velo d'Or. The Frenchman had a standout year as he carried his form from a strong Classics season into the Tour de France. He's the first Frenchman to win the award since Laurent Jalabert in 1995.
It was at his home Grand Tour that Alaphilippe captured the hearts of the French - and wider - public as he won two stages, spent 14 days in yellow and bravely held on at the last to finish 5th on GC. This followed his first Monument win at Milan-San Remo back in March.
Alaphilippe won the best French rider award for the second year running, this time beating Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) into second. Pinot had also ridden to some success at the Tour, winning Stage 14 on the summit of the Tourmalet just ahead of Alaphilippe.
Pinot's Tour ended early when an injruy forced him to abandon in tears at a time when he'd shown himself to be in superior form to the Team Ineos pairing of eventual winner Egan Bernal and defending champion Geraint Thomas.
If both Pinot and Alaphilippe ride the Tour as well as they did this year, but next time stave off injury and fatigue, the judges will have a much harder time separating them for the award.
