Following on from the first Tour (Tour Down Under) and the first Classic (Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race) of the 2019 Cycling Calender, I thought I'd continue building up my hype and share some of the riders I'm expting to have an insane 2019!
First Up - Julian Alaphilippe!
It was actually Alaphilippe's performance yesterday at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina that highlighted just how special this guy is, and made me want to showcase him first.
How did he perform in 2018?
Quite frankly his end-of-season form was on a different level. He eased to a KOM jersey at the Tour de France after some heroic breakaway riding and 2 seperate Stage wins! He then won the Clasica San Sebastian, the GC of the Tour of Britain and then the GC of the Okolo Slovenska. Everyone had him down to be taking the rainbow stripes from Sagan, but only managed 8th at the World Champions Road Race in Austria (where Alejandro Valverde took the win).
On top of that, he also won La Fleche Wallone and Stages at Colombia Ora y Paz (1), Itzulia Basque Country (2) & Critérium du Dauphiné (1).
A very commendable year for the Frenchman, who finished the season ranked 5th in the UCI WorldTour rankings!
What can we expect him to win in 2019?
It's a little difficult trying to guess what a Cyclist might win in a certain year as it's impossible to know what races they'll be riding in unless they're in the immediate future. So far we know...
I think he'll ease to the GC at Vuelta a San Juan, and will repeat his KOM success at the Tour de France; apart from that it's a guessing game. He'll definitely win a Classic again this year but I don't think he'll have much of a chance of a Monument (Milan-Sanremo, Liege-Bastogne-Liege) - I fancy his chances at Strade Bianche.
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