Julian Alaphilippe, one of the most celebrated French cyclists of his generation, has announced his immediate retirement from professional cycling at the age of 34. The double world champion posted a heartfelt message on Instagram on Friday, writing: "It is with particular emotion that I write these few words to announce the end of my sporting career." His Swiss team Tudor — with whom he still had a contract through 2027 — confirmed the news, stating he would not be fulfilling the remainder of that deal.
Alaphilippe, nicknamed "Loulou" and born in Saint-Amand-Montrond in central France, built his reputation on an attacking, instinctive racing style that made him one of the sport's most exciting riders. His peak came in 2019, when he won the spring Classic Milan–Sanremo, the hilly Strade Bianche race in Tuscany, and a second Flèche Wallonne — a Belgian one-day race he would ultimately win three times. That year's Tour de France, cycling's most prestigious race, became the stuff of legend: he spent 14 days in the yellow jersey, winning two stages, before eventually finishing fifth overall. He later described those two weeks as among his finest memories. He went on to win consecutive world championship rainbow jerseys in 2020 in Imola, Italy, and 2021 in Leuven, Belgium — an unprecedented back-to-back feat for a French rider. Across his career he also claimed stage victories in all three Grand Tours: the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and the Vuelta a España.
His final years, however, were marked by a steep decline that many trace to a horrific crash at 80 km/h during the 2022 Liège–Bastogne–Liège Classic, one of cycling's most demanding one-day races. A move to the smaller Tudor team was intended as a fresh start, but his final Tour de France appearance last month ended anonymously, with a finish outside the top 100. Alaphilippe said the decision to stop came instinctively, just as his racing style always had. "One morning I woke up at training camp and felt: this is my last year," he explained. He described the final stage of this year's Tour de France, which passed through Montmartre and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, as the moment he chose to close this chapter of his life.
Alaphilippe's retirement marks the end of an era for French cycling, which had not produced a world champion in the discipline for decades before his 2020 title. Whether he will take part in any farewell event has not been announced, though he hinted on social media that new adventures lie ahead.