French cyclist remains in lead

Associated Press

SAINT-MICHEL-DE-MAURIENNE, France

With the Alps spread like giant teeth in front of him and rivals speeding away, seeking to steal the precious yellow jersey off his shoulders, Julian Alaphilippe switched off the part of the brain that stops normal people from taking death-defying risks.

Because the French rider is no normal person.

And downward he plunged, flying through hairpin bends on tires barely wider than his thumb. The lunar-like landscape of giant slopes of barren scree became a blur as he hit top speeds of nearly 90 kph (around 55 mph).

“It was a day of folly,” Alaphilippe said.

“I unplugged my brain and I was on the limit on each bend,” he said. “I did a crazy descent, where I took risks. I wanted to save my jersey.”

Job done.

With one big Alpine stage completed and just two more to go, Alaphilippe is still in yellow and one step closer to delivering a first Tour de France title since 1985 to his country, crossing fingers, toes and everything else that he makes it through the mountains to Paris on Sunday still in the lead.

“We’re all dreaming of that. Even I’m starting to imagine it,” he said.

Continuing to contribute more than anyone to making this the most exciting Tour in decades, the French rider recovered from a mini-wilt on a lung-burning ascent to 2,642 meters (8,668 feet) above sea level on the Galibier pass and then rode like a fury downhill on the other side as if his jersey depended on it.

Which it did.

With a decisive, well-placed attack on the slopes of the Galibier — the last of three climbs to above 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) on Stage 18 — Colombian rider Egan Bernal got away from Alaphilippe and ate into his lead.