Watch Julian Alaphilippe absolutely kill it down a descent at Tirreno-Adriatico

Sure, getting up the mountain is important, but being able to descend like an animal is a huge part of cycling.

Going down a hill fast on a road bike is a valuable skill if you intend on winning. Julian Alaphilippe has put on many descending masterclasses for us cycling fans over the years. Take, for example. his incredible ride down the super-technical descent of the Col du Galibier in the Tour de France in 2020. The QuickStep-AlphaVinyl rider was wearing the yellow jersey, and he managed to keep it thanks to his incredible level of skill.

At Tirreno-Adriatico, you can watch him take each curve like an F1 driver, going from outside to inside, using every inch of the road. He rides full-tilt down the super-fast descent, swooping in and out of corners, even as the road surface quality gets lousy. He was following Trek–Segafredo’s Quinn Simmons’s wheel, which is where the camera footage was coming from. But you can see a few times the French rider almost wants to overtake Simmons, as if the American was slowing him down.

Check out this incredible demonstration of descending expertise below from the Italian stage race below.

Could watch this all day ?

Julian Alaphilippe descending like he's on rails at Tirreno Adriatico 2022. Camera carried by Quinn Simmons. pic.twitter.com/lr3AeMjeKn

— Velon CC (@VelonCC) March 15, 2022