Liege-Bastogne-Liege - Bradley Wiggins: Arrogant Alaphilippe only has himself to blame for balls-up

ByTom Bennett

Updated 05/10/2020 at 10:06 GMT

Julian Alaphilippe suffered one of the most embarrassing mistakes in Monument history as the world champion was denied on the line by Primoz Roglic. Alaphilippe was already celebrating with his arms outstretched as Roglic dipped on his inside. And a photo finish subsequently proved what Alaphilippe had feared.

Bradley Wiggins says that Julian Alaphillipe showed touches of arrogance as he missed out on Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory on Sunday.

The world champion rider was pipped on the line by Primoz Roglic while celebrating early, and was subsequently demoted for dangerous sprinting.

And Wiggins did not pull his punches when appraising a rider who he so admires.

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"There was quite a lot of intent there, probably attached to a fair bit of overconfidence, almost borderline arrogance, really, in terms of him proving that point after a disappointing Tour from his point of view," Wiggins said.

"He fired right and impeded the Bahrain rider, but by firing right it means he only had to look over his left shoulder because he had the barriers there. As he sees the guys come up, Hirschi in particular, he then fires left, almost with intention to impede their sprint.

"It’s a touch of arrogance, sort of ‘if I’m not going to do it physically I’m going to bully you a little bit’. And it backfired on him.

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"And not only that; once he did open up for his sprint in the middle of the road he forgot about the right side that he’d blocked," Wiggins continued.

"And that’s a touch of arrogance as well, because he thought he was that strong and that fast that he’d eliminated everyone else. It was a bit of a balls-up all round really.

Wiggins - Roglic has won himself a lot of fans since the Tour heartbreak

"It just shows you that he might be world champion but you never underestimate your opponents, and particularly somebody who nearly won the Tour de France."

Liège - Bastogne - Liège

Wiggins - Roglic has won himself a lot of fans since the Tour heartbreak

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04/10/2020 at 18:55

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Watch: Alaphilippe's incredible error hands victory to Roglic on the line

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04/10/2020 at 16:54

Liège - Bastogne - Liège

Watch: Alaphilippe's incredible error hands victory to Roglic on the line

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10/06/2022 at 10:40