Who is this French hero Julian Alaphilippe?: Bio & Olympics

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Julian Alaphilippe is a native to Saint-Amand-Montrond, the town that hosted the 2013 Tour de France; it was regarded as one of the most beautiful tracks in the sport’s history.

Moreover, he is a two-time world champion who bikes for the UCI World Team Deceuninck-Quick-Step.

Julian recently had a son with a former cyclist who is a year older than Julian. Both of the partners are well praised by the French people.

Julian Alaphilippe with his girlfriend Marion Rousse
Julian Alaphilippe with his girlfriend Marion Rousse (Instagram)

But how did Julian go from being a cyclocross racer to a professional road cyclist? What was his childhood like? How much does he earn?

Stick with us until the end as we answer all these questions one by one, starting with some quick facts.

Julian Alaphilippe | Quick Facts

Full Name Julian Alaphilippe
Birth Date 11 June 1992
Birth Place Saint-Amand-Montrond, France
Current Residence Principality of Andorra
Nick Name Loulou
Religion Non-religious
Nationality French
Famous for being Pro road cyclist
Ethnicity Caucasian
Education N/A
Horoscope Gemini
Father’s Name Jo Alaphilippe
Mother’s Name Catherine Alaphilippe
Siblings Younger brother (Bryan Alaphilippe)
Age 31 years old
Height 5’8″/173 cm 
Weight 137 lb/62 kg
Hair Color Black
Eye Color Brown
Build Slim
Hobbies Playing drums
Favorite Destination N/A
Profession Road cyclist
Marital Status Dating Marion Rousse
Kids Nino (Son)
Net Worth $3,000,000
Merch  Julian Alaphilippe (Book – French Edition)
Last Updated March, 2024

Julian Alaphilippe | Early Days

The Frenchman was born in Saint-Amand-Montrond on the 11th of June, 1992. He was born the eldest child/son to his father, Jo Alaphilippe, and his mother, Christine Alaphilippe.

Julian showed interest in bike riding when he was 13 years old. He chose biking overplaying drums, which he was fond of since childhood; he still plays the drums, though.

Julian’s father was a conductor, a musical conductor for an orchestral group. Maybe that’s why he initially got into drums as conductors need to have a sharp sense of rhythm and timing.

“Like riding, music gives me an outlet for my energy,” Julian said.

Unlike most French cyclists, he started cycling rather later. And unlike them, he did not make it to the professional division by going through national-level amateur teams. Instead, Julian joined a small-town club named US Florentaise.

His early days of cycling were cyclo-cross, where he got his initial success, not road racing.

“When I was about 12, I used to ride my bike (BMX), doing stunts sometimes and often getting injured. Then, one day, one of my friends said I should go to the club in Montluçon and ride with the youngsters,” said Julian.

Julian showed up at the Entente Cycliste de Montmarault Montluçon, the cycling school’s coach, commented how he had a “character” and was “a fabulous kid.”

“He was the smallest in the group but had something extra; the temperament, the mentality to win,” said another official.

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Julian Alaphilippe Career

Early Career

Julian tasted initial success in cyclocross; he spent impressive two seasons being a U.S. Florentaise. The Frenchman placed 2nd in the 2010 junior ’cross worlds.

Moreover, he also bagged in the junior World Cup race held in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. Considering these achievements, he got himself a position on the French army squad, L’Armée de Terre.

Julian accredited his success mainly to his cousin Franck to whom he credits his place at the World Tour team.

Furthermore, Julian went to Saguenay, Quebec, where the 2012 Coupe des Nations was being held.

The French star dominated the second stage of the race, appearing at the top of the leaderboard and also ranked 2nd overall.

Rise to Fame

The Frenchman rose to fame when he managed to place 2nd in the 2015 La Flèche Wallonne.

Normally, it takes years and years of practice, consistent hard work, and experience to place at the top 3 of such a competitive and challenging event.

But Julian placed 2nd in his first try riding the Ardennes classics. He was led by Alejandro Valverde at the last two spring classics: Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He finished the races in five days.

Likewise, Julian even shocked his team director after coming close to the no.1 spot two times during the race. That was an achievement of a lifetime at the age of 22.

Following that, he joined the 2015 Tour de Romandie, where he showed his hunger for more. Julian’s team placed 4th in the first stage of the race.

Anna van der Breggen and Julian Alaphilippe on podium as race winners of La Flèche Wallonne 2019
Anna van der Breggen and Julian Alaphilippe on podium as race winners of La Flèche Wallonne 2019 (Instagram)

Julian came 3rd in the 2nd stage of the race, ranking him 10th in the overall general classification of the race. Likewise, he came 2nd in the 3rd stage, upgrading his rank from 10th to 5th.

He had an excellent run for three stages, whereafter his teammates took over. His team did not win any medals, but that performance by a young Julian Alaphilippe was noteworthy.

Shortly after that, he joined the Amgen Tour of California. His fans and followers did not hope much from him as this was the longest race he had ever participated in. This race would last eight days in total.

But he went to prove everyone wrong as he bagged in the 2016 Amgen Tour of California title.

Danish directeur sportif Brian Holm on Julian Alaphilippe

We bet you think that he popped a bottle of champagne for celebration, but that’s far from what the festival looked like.

The team celebrated by having a feast, multiple sliver buffet bowls lined in the center of the banquet hall at the Ontario Airport Hotel in Southern California.

Holm arrived a bit later at the banquet and had a celebratory sip of Cabernet Sauvignon. The following morning, Holm had a couple of words to say about Julian.

“He is like a little Sagan handling his bike, an ex-cyclocross rider, and he can descend much better than most road riders. Julian is very modest and polite,” commented Holm.

He continued, “He’s not been affected by the money yet. I think he can win a lot of races, even the Tour of Flanders, besides those other races, the Flèche and Liège.”

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Recent Achievements

Despite facing many obstacles in 2020, Julain managed to achieve a stage victory and a three-day spell in the Tour de France donning yellow jersey.

Moreover, Julian didn’t back out from showing his dominance in the World Championship.

After 6 hours of back-breaking paddling, Julian somehow attempted the last attack in the final climb of the race to snatch the victory from the hands of Wout van Aert.

He became the 2020 World Cycling Champion, a title which his country had not laid its hands upon since 1997.

If you think he stopped there, you’re wrong. He went on to win the 2020 de Brabantse Pijl, showing his great winning mentality and flamboyancy.

For his incredible performance, he was named France’s best sportsman for the 2nd time in a row.

Julian Alaphilippe Versatality

Julian is often praised for his proficiency in classic events, but he is more than that, his physique allows him to perform exceptionally well in uphill events too.

Standing 5’8″ tall and weighing 137 lbs, Alaphilippe has also dominated climbing races. Julian won the final stage of the 2013 Tour de l’Avenir which finished on the Plateau des Gilières.

The last part of the climb was a nasty one as it only had a 7.7 percent average grade for 9 km. Moreover, the steepest climb was 15 percent.

Despite the toughness of the track, Julian won the seventh stage of the 2013 Tour de l’Avenir, finishing the race at 3:46:25, followed by Matej Mohoric 51 seconds later.

Holm, once again, commented on this achievement, “I was surprised that he won today. I didn’t think he could climb like that.”

Julian Alaphilippe’s Dating Life

When it comes to Julian’s personal life, especially his dating life, the Frenchman does not reveal much. But we do know that he has been dating Marion Rousse, a former road cyclist, for quite a while now.

Marion was born on the 17th of August, 1991, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Standing 5’7″ tall and weighing 154 lbs, she is not a religious person rather an atheist. She has got blonde hair and blue eyes.

Her most notable title to date remains the 2012 French national road race. Besides that, she has also multiple awards and has appeared in the media several times for her incredible performance.

Julian Alaphilippe and MArion Rousse's absolutely adorable firstborn
Julian Alaphilippe and Marion Rousse’s adorable firstborn (Instagram)

The two met each other sometime in 2020. Before getting together with Julian, Marion was married to Tony Gallopin, a professional cyclist, for five years from 2014 to 2019. The couple got divorced later and shared the news on Instagram.

Just like Julian, Marion is also famous in France as a TV broadcaster.

The couple recently had a child together. Their firstborn/son was born on the 14th of June, 2021, who they named Nino.

However, the couple has yet to tie the knot. Judging from how smooth things are going between them, the couple might just wed soon.

Julian Alaphilippe | Net Worth

Julian has an estimated net worth of over $3 million which mainly came from his cycling career. Moreover, he has a salary of 2.3 million euros or approximately $2.65 million.

He has set up some passive income businesses such as his merch website.

On the other hand, his girlfriend, Marion Rousse, has an estimated net worth of $30,000.

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Julian Alaphilippe | Trivia

Julian closes his eyes and thinks of his family, thinking on performing his best to help his team win or win the race by himself before the start of every match. He does this for a few seconds.

Moreover, he likes comedies movies more than any other.

Similarly, he also said that he likes to watch documentaries about the police and the army. He said that he finds them interesting and would like to know as much as possible about them.

Marion Rousse taling a selfie with her French husband
Marion Rousse taking a selfie with her French husband enjoying a cup of Cappuccino (Instagram)

As you know by now, Julian was a drummer in his childhood, so, naturally, he is a big music fan. He named a few of his favorite musicians/bands: The Police, Sting, and ACDC.

“Old music, new music, it doesn’t really matter, all kinds of music are to my liking, from rock to lounge music,” stated the Frenchman.

Social Media Links

Instagram: 859k followers

Facebook: 200k followers

Twitter: 132k followers

FAQs

Was Julian Alaphilippe in the army?

No, Julian Alaphilippe was not in the army at any point in his life. He was in the cycling army team, though, with whom he raced for the French national U-23 team.

Why is Julian Alaphilippe called Alafpolak?

You might have wondered why does Julian’s Twitter handle read @alafpolak1. That’s because when he was young, Julian used to be nicknamed for a forgotten German sprinter named Olaf Pollack.

Has Julian Alaphilippe won a Tour de France?

Sadly, Julian has not been able to win any Tour de France as of 2021. But he is not one to give up easily. Hopefully, he will win the title in the future. The closest he has come to the title was in 2019, when he finished the raced in 5th position.

Is Julian Alaphilippe a sprinter?

Yes, Julian Alaphilippe is a sprinter, but he is also a Puncheur; he has proven proficient in both styles.

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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