From The Paddock

It's official - Julian Alaphilippe is retiring immediately!

It was first reported in L’Equipe and Wielerflits: Alaphilippe “can no longer identify himself with the current state of cycling …[and] attempts to resume training after the Tour [de France] failed.”

The 34-year-old Alaphilippe is a former 2x World Champion and won 6 stages in previous editions of the Tour de France.

Letizia Paternoster 🇮🇹 will ride for the Human Powered Health (USA) team in 2027-28.
The 27-year-old Italian is a consistent sprint finisher, often in the top 5, but has not yet landed a major victory.
Can the American HPH help her find the top rung of the podium 🥇?

Can Lorena Wiebes (shown here at TdFF) conquer the hills at Tour of Britain this Wednesday?

Last year she won one stage at ToB and was 3rd overall in the green jersey points competition, finding the hills a bit too challenging, perhaps? But recently, at the Tour de France Femmes, she performed much better in the mountains and may have the edge she needs to take the green jersey at Tour of Britain.

Of course, the bigger question may be whether Wiebes has recovered from her TdFF efforts.
🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️

🇨🇦 Isabella Holmgren (21) made a good showing in her first Tour de France Femmes, finishing 8th on the GC and 3rd in the Youth classification.

Holmgren won the Youth classification at the women’s Giro this year, where she finished 7th on the GC.

Many Dutch fans will remember Holmgren as the underdog who took the Junior title at the World Cyclocross Championships in Hoogerheide in 2023. The podium finishers that year were her sister, Ava (2nd), and a French rider - Celia Gery (3rd)!

The team paddock isn’t always the easiest place to navigate. While most of the men’s WorldTour races now require a VIP pass ($) or press credentials to enter the paddock, the women’s paddock is open to the public. While the men are usually quick to exit the bus and bypass fans, the women tend to accommodate fans, which isn’t so easy - almost every fan either wants an autograph or a selfie.

Nothing stops a train.
After Tour de France Femmes stage 3, riders, team personnel, media, and fans all had to wait together for a train to pass.

(Unlike the men's peloton - which always tries to sneak through)

Celia Gery 🇫🇷 was accused of riding Kasia Niewiadoma into the barriers during stage 8. The UCI investigated and found no wrongdoing and the issue was settled. However, social media lit up with much criticism pointed towards Gery and her FDJ-SUEZ teammates.

Many male pro riders commented, saying that the kind of thing that happened between Gery and Niewiadoma is commonplace in the male peloton, part of racing.

Whether you agree or not, Gery held up well to the criticism and afterwards said to the press, “It was really difficult to go through … but that’s how it is.”

The 20-year-old Gery has now put it behind her and will likely compete next at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada.

Demi Vollering’s attack on stage 8 of Tour de France Femmes was spectacular in its ex*****on! Elisa Longo Borghini also had a great ride, and was a lifesaver for Kasia Niewiadoma, who blew up and could have lost more than seconds to Vollering if Longo Borghini had not done so much work to keep Vollering in check. Niewiadoma complained afterwards that Vollering’s teammate, Gery, blocked her unfairly, but we have not heard of any disciplinary action by the UCI.

Kasia Niewiadoma blew apart stage 7 and left her rivals behind!
She now holds the yellow jersey by 15” ahead of Demi Vollering and 39” ahead of Marlen Reusser.
But can she hold the yellow jersey with 2 stages still remaining?

What a ride by Kim Le Court!
She was dropped, caught back up on a descent, then made it into the breakaway, attacked, chased down a breakaway companion with 1km to go, led out the sprint - and won!