Julian Alaphilippe has played down his chances of winning the Tour de France and taking the yellow jersey all the way to Paris. The Frenchman remains 23 seconds clear of Trek-Segafredo’s Giulio Ciccone at the top the overall standings, following stage 9, which saw Daryl Impey take the win.
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Today’s stage 10 is one for the sprinters and should be another comfortable day for Alaphilippe and the rest of the general classification contenders, before the first rest day of the Tour on Tuesday. The fireworks will then begin as the peloton heads to the mountains, and the Deceuninck-QuickStep rider, admits he will struggle to keep hold of the maillot jaune for much longer.
“It’s clear that the hardest is still to come,” Alaphilippe said. “I’ve already reconnoitred the route and I know what’s coming up with tough stages at very high altitude. “The second part of the Tour is very difficult. My general classification ambitions were non-existent before the Tour and the maillot jaune hasn’t changed a lot in that regard. I’m just going to try to keep the jersey as long as I can and test my limits.”
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