For Alaphilippe, Tour was too long, too high

VAL THORENS, France (AP) — For Julian Alaphilippe, the Tour de France proved to be just 148 kilometers (92 miles) too long.
But the French rider who did more than anyone to set the 2019 edition alight finished how he started: Giving every ounce of energy he had.
Even truncated by landslides, the last two Alpine stages slashed from a planned 256 kilometers (159 miles) to a total of just 148 still proved too high and too long for Alaphilippe — an instinctive, enterprising rider who was