Julian Alaphilippe arrived at the Tour Down Under with two prominent veins popping out of his right temple. It wasn’t a stress response to Soudal-Quick-Step team boss Patrick Lefevere’s criticism of his recent results – the Frenchman says he doesn’t care about that – rather an indication of his shape. Alaphilippe’s veins were visible because he was lean.
Even race director Stuart O’Grady had noted how fit Alaphilippe looked when asked to name a favourite in the lead-up to the men’s WorldTour race.
