Two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe is ending his career effective immediately

What you could already glean from between the lines during the Tour de France has now been confirmed: Julian Alaphilippe is retiring from professional cycling. The Frenchman from Tudor still had a contract through the end of 2027, but according to L'Equipe , he has decided to give it up.

Alaphilippe had already noticed during the Tour de France that things weren't quite working out anymore. "It's not fun anymore. It's okay, it's over. It's time to quit when it's no longer fun," he said in July, without drawing any immediate conclusions.

The two-time world champion thus brought his Tour chapter to a close. “This might be my last Tour, so I made the most of it. I gave it my all—not with much success, but I got everything out of it. That’s how cycling is. "I feel very happy to finish this Tour. It’s definitely my last one. I can feel it," he said at the time.

According to L'Equipe—after WielerFlits was the first to report that there were doubts—Alaphilippe had intended to resume competition after the Tour de France, but was unable to do so. The French sports newspaper reports that the three-week race was the final push he needed to carry out his decision.

In addition to two World Championships and six Tour stages, Alaphilippe also won the Flèche Wallonne three times, as well as Milan–San Remo, Strade Bianche, and numerous other prestigious races. Between 2014 and 2024, he rode for Patrick Lefevere’s Quick-Step team, where he achieved all of his major successes.

Ahead of the 2025 season, Alaphilippe joined the Swiss team Tudor, but in a year and a half with that team, he managed to secure only one victory: the GP Quebec, which was a major win right off the bat. Now, it appears his tenure with Fabian Cancellara’s team will come to an end a year and a half earlier than expected.