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Double World Champion Alaphilippe to Begin 2024 at Tour Down Under

Double world champion Julian Alaphilippe will begin his 2024 campaign at the Tour Down Under. Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
Double world champion Julian Alaphilippe will begin his 2024 campaign at the Tour Down Under. Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
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Double World Champion Alaphilippe to Begin 2024 at Tour Down Under

Double world champion Julian Alaphilippe will begin his 2024 campaign at the Tour Down Under. Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
Double world champion Julian Alaphilippe will begin his 2024 campaign at the Tour Down Under. Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

Double cycling world champion Julian Alaphilippe will begin his 2024 season at the Tour Down Under next month, event organizers said Tuesday.
A six-time stage winner at the Tour de France, Alaphilippe won back-to-back men's world road race crowns in 2020 and 2021 but has been plagued by injuries since.
"I am very happy to be returning to Australia," said the 31-year-old Alaphilippe, who previously raced the event in 2014 on his professional debut.
The Tour Down Under for men and women will take place in and around Adelaide next month, with the men's race from January 16-21, featuring the brutal Willunga Hill climb twice and finishing on an ascent to Mount Lofty.
"There are many undulating roads and tough climbs throughout various stages of this race," added Alaphilippe, who won the King of the Mountains jersey at the 2018 Tour de France.
"I'm particularly excited to revisit Willunga Hill along with Mount Lofty for the first time," added Alaphilippe, who will be one of the favorites for the race leader's ochre jersey.
The Soudal Quick-Step rider is a one-day race specialist, but he has won two stage races -- the 2016 Tour of California and the 2018 Tour of Britain.
He came agonizingly close to winning the Tour de France in 2019, losing the yellow jersey with just three days to go.
Race director Stuart O'Grady said of the Frenchman: "He is a true champion of our sport, and a born entertainer on a bike. We can't wait for him to race in Australia's greatest cycling race."
Alaphilippe is on the comeback trail after suffering broken ribs and a collapsed lung in a high speed crash in April 2022 and then injuring his knee in a tumble at the Tour of Flanders in March this year.
The women's Tour Down Under takes place from January 12-16.

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England Coach Southgate Targeted After a 0-0 Draw with Slovenia at Euro 2024 

England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)
England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)
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England Coach Southgate Targeted After a 0-0 Draw with Slovenia at Euro 2024 

England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)
England's head coach Gareth Southgate gestures to fans after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group C football match between England and Slovenia at the Cologne Stadium in Cologne on June 25, 2024. (AFP)

Top of the group, unbeaten and on the favorable side of the draw for the knockout phase of Euro 2024. It’s a case of job done for England at this stage of the tournament.

Try telling that to the fans who jeered loudly and threw plastic cups as the final whistle blew on a 0-0 draw with Slovenia at Cologne Stadium on Tuesday.

Criticism of England's performances in Germany has been fierce.

“I’ve not seen any team qualify and receive similar,” manager Gareth Southgate said.

Southgate believes he and his England team could be paying the price for its success under his leadership. Safe passage through to the round of 16 maintains his personal record of advancing from the group stage of every major tournament he's taken charge of, dating back to the World Cup in 2018.

“I think probably expectation (is different). We’ve made England over the last six or seven years fun again. I think it has been enjoyable for the players,” Southgate said. “We’ve got to be very, very careful that it stays that way.”

England hasn't been fun to watch at these Euros with a 1-0 win against Serbia its only victory in Group C. That was followed by a 1-1 draw with Denmark and the scoreless draw with Slovenia.

Three games, two goals and a whole lot of underwhelmed fans.

The performance against Denmark was apparently so uninspired that former captain and now BBC presenter Gary Lineker used an expletive to describe it. And despite claiming he was “oblivious” to Lineker's stinging critique, it contributed to the “unusual environment” Southgate said he was working in at this tournament.

The atmosphere was hardly helped by plastic cups being thrown on the field as Southgate and his players went to applaud England supporters after the match.

“I’m not going to back down from going over and thanking the fans who were brilliant during the game," he said. “They might feel differently towards me. But for me, we only will succeed if we are together.”

Southgate led England to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2018 and the final of the last Euros. But his team will likely need a sharp upturn in form if it is to live up to its pre-tournament billing as one of the favorites for the European title.

Still, England has at least ended up on the opposite side of the draw to Spain, France, Germany and Portugal and will play one of the best third-place teams in the next round after advancing as group winner.

“That was the aim before the start of the tournament. Come top of the group and control our destiny,” captain Harry Kane said.

The result also meant Slovenia reached the round of 16 for the first time and Croatia was eliminated.

“We are such a small country, with such a big heart and mental strength. That’s why I’m very proud of my team,” coach Matjaz Kek said. “This is only the beginning for a new and beautiful era for Slovenian football.”

While it was a proud night for Slovenians, it was another performance that highlighted England’s attacking issues, with substitute Cole Palmer coming closest to scoring a winner in stoppage time.

“You can’t go into every game with such pressure and score four goals. Football doesn’t work like that,” Southgate said. “It is important to win the group to control your own destiny.”

A masked Kylian Mbappé scored his first goal of the Euros, but France drew 1-1 with Poland to finish runner-up in Group D behind Austria, which beat the Netherlands 3-2.

Mbappé wore a protective mask after breaking his nose in France’s opening game against Austria and scored from the penalty spot. But Robert Lewandowski’s twice-taken spot kick gave already eliminated Poland its first point of the tournament.