Watch: Rider mistakenly celebrates Tour de France stage ‘win' after dislocating shoulder
The Tudor Pro rider hit the deck in the opening kilometres, suffering pain and a shoulder injury that cast doubt over whether he would even finish the day.
'He had a crash at the beginning of the race,' said team sports director Raphael Meyer. 'He had pain and a dislocated shoulder. He was seen by the doctor and he still has some pain. He's going to do X-rays.'
But the Frenchman fought on, eventually crossing the line – arms raised in triumph – believing he had pulled off an emotional comeback victory.
He hadn't.
Unbeknownst to Alaphilippe, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) had already powered away from the breakaway group earlier and claimed a convincing solo win.
Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) had also slipped away and crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Alaphilippe.
'He thought he was first on the line – but the radio didn't work,' Meyer said.
However, despite the initial disappointment, Alaphilippe was able to see the funny side afterwards.
'The radio stopped working after the crash, so like an idiot I went for the sprint trying to win,' he said.
For Wellens, the victory marked a brutal show of strength, and another chapter in the dominance of leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates, as they continue to exert near-total control over the race.
For Alaphilippe, it was a bitter-sweet finish – a gritty ride, a brave comeback, and a win that wasn't.
It was not the first time such misfortune happened to Alaphilippe.
In 2020, he raised his arms in celebration before the finish at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument classic, only to see Slovenian Primoz Roglic beating him to the line.
The Frenchman was then disqualified for deviating from his sprint line.
Leading Positions after Stage 15 (Muret - Carcassonne, 169.3km): 1 T Wellens (Bel) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 3hrs 34mins 9secs, 2 V Campenaerts (Bel) Team Visma | Lease a Bike +1min 28secs, 3 J Alaphilippe (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling Team +1:36, 4 W van Aert (Bel) Team Visma | Lease a Bike, 5 A Laurance (Fra) INEOS Grenadiers, 6 A Vlasov (Rus) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, 7 J Stuyven (Bel) Lidl-Trek, 8 J Jegat (Fra) Team TotalEnergies, 9 M Valgren (Den) EF Education-EasyPost, 10 V Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ all at same time
Selected Others: 27 B Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost +6mins 07secs, 48 F Wright (Gbr) Bahrain Victorious, 55 O Onley (Gbr) Team Picnic PostNL, 83 J Blackmore (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech all at same time, 92 J Stewart (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech +6:58, 94 G Thomas (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +7:10, 104 C Swift (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +18:46, 130 S Flynn (Gbr) Team Picnic PostNL +22:42, 139 S Watson (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers, 141 L Askey (Gbr) Groupama-FDJ, 144 A Yates (Gbr) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 149 S Yates (Gbr) Team Visma | Lease a Bike all at same time
General Classification after Stage 15: 1 T Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 54hrs 20mins 44secs, 2 J Vingegaard (Den) Team Visma | Lease a Bike +4mins 13secs, 3 F Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe +7:53, 4 O Onley (Gbr) Team Picnic PostNL +9:18, 5 K Vauquelin (Fra) ARKEA-B&B HOTELS +10:21, 6 P Roglic (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe +10:34, 7 F Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team +12:00, 8 T Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility +12:33, 9 C Rodriguez (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers +18:26, 10 B Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost +18:41
Selected Others: 23 S Yates (Gbr) Team Visma | Lease a Bike +1hr 2mins 24secs, 28 A Yates (Gbr) UAE Team Emirates-XRG +1:11:39, 37 J Blackmore (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech +1:29:45, 47 G Thomas (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +1:45:17, 100 F Wright (Gbr) Bahrain Victorious +2:39:11, 115 C Swift (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +2:57:27, 123 J Stewart (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech +3:04:58, 126 S Watson (Gbr) INEOS Grenadiers +3:14:35, 131 S Flynn (Gbr) Team Picnic PostNL +3:20:02, 140 L Askey (Gbr) Groupama-FDJ +3:29:25
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