Typically, you can place riders into certain categories; some are sprinters, some are climbers, some are rouleurs. Occasionally, however, a rider who has the qualities attributed to all three categories comes along – think Merckx, Hinault, or Kelly.
It's not often that a rider who can do it all arrives on the scene, and there isn't even a guarantee that there'll be one in every generation, but when the stars align someone will burst onto the scene and be instantly recognisable by their burning ambition and their ability to take a victory whenever the opportunity presents itself.
In one sense, those riders are the ultimate weapon for a team to have on their roster, as winning is possible on all terrain and every race presents an opportunity. That often makes in-race tactics simpler for said rider and his squad but having a rider of this nature throws up challenges, too, because more often than not the opposition will base their plans around the 'do it all'.
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As Peter Sagan found out during a spell earlier in his career, if you’re the strongest or the fastest, everyone else will treat you with fear, and quite often race against you.
Julian Alaphilippe is slowly but surely reaching that point. He's almost at the level where being present in a group means that no-one will want to ride with him. I say slowly because, for the moment, his medium-to-long time trial hasn't astonished anyone, and when it comes to stage races he’s not quite at the pinnacle. It might come, it might not but, even with his TT limitations, he's a phenomenon.
During the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, I was racking my brain trying to think of a rider that I had encountered during my career who compares to the Frenchman, but I quite quickly realised that there wasn't one. Sean Kelly could sprint and sometimes climb with the best, he won a Grand tour and multiple Classics, but there was always a weakness in the really big mountains.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/philippa-york-analysis-the-unique-alaphilippe
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