Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) went very close to losing another major victory by celebrating too early on the finish line of De Brabantse Pijl today.
The French rider celebrated too early at Liège-Bastogne-Liège last Sunday and was pipped on the line by Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), though Alaphilippe was relegated to 5th anyway for an irregular sprint.
Today in Belgium he was in a three-up sprint for victory and shot his two hands in the air to celebrate his win as Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) lunged at the line and very nearly beat him.
Alaphilippe looked shocked and put his hands down, before asking for proof he had won, in the shape of a replay of the sprint, from his team helpers just after the finish.
Alaphilippe and van der Poel came to the finish of the 197km race in Overijse today with La Flèche Wallonne runner-up Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) for company, though the French rider had to be content with 3rd place today.
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Just seconds behind the three leaders Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-McLaren) won the sprint for 4th place from the chasing group.
It was Alaphilippe's first win since being crowned world champion in Imola last Sunday week.
Van der Poel looked like he had the beating of him but he missed up his sprint. He had to pause for a moment in the final 100 metres so he could switch to the other side of Alaphilippe in a bid to overtake him, but ultimately ran out of road.
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