After TotalEnergies and Cofidis... A new team enters the fight for Julian Alaphilippe's signing
Cycling
For a few years already, Julian Alaphilippe has met criticism within Soudal - Quick-Step as Patrick Lefevere has not been easy on the words. A departure from the Belgian team always looked certain, but the Frenchman will reach the end of his contract. Today, a new team enters the negotiations with the former World Champion.
Alaphilippe, World Champion in 2020 and 2021, managed to get a high-value contract into the coming seasons but from 2022 onwards he suffered with a series of illnesses and injuries that often prevented him from being at his best level. Although taking occasional wins, he was not consistent and not at the level of the new best classics riders in the world such as Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar.
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Often, there was a lot of speculation that he would break his contract early due to Lefevere's words, but this was not the case and seemingly Alaphilippe enjoys the presence of his teammates. His teammates do so as well, as is reported by Remco Evenepoel's bid to convince Alaphilippe and the team for him to race the Tour de France.
Still, his contract ends in 2024 and it is already known that French teams such as Cofidis and TotalEnergies have the interest in Alaphilippe. However there is caution, following the long-term signings of former stars such as Chris Froome and Peter Sagan who were beyond the peak of their career and, with new teams, struggled to reach a competitive level in the big races.
However Alaphilippe, after another unlucky spring, went on to light this Giro d'Italia on many occasions with his constantly offensive way of racing and stage win on the 12th day of the race. A much needed and very popular win, even if race circumstances benefited him. At the Giro there are plenty talks within the peloton regarding possible transfers and he is one of the riders that has been circulating.
Gazzetta dello Sport's Ciro Scognamiglio reports that Tudor Pro Cycling will try to sign Alaphilippe. The Swiss team is actively trying to sign a top classics riders and Alaphilippe could be joining Marc Hirschi if the team's plans go right.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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Info @Gazzetta_it - @TudorProCycling will make an attempt to sign @alafpolak1 for next season. Yet to decide if the french will stay with @soudalquickstep or not. In any case for the swiss team of @f_cancellara the sign of @MarcHirschi can be considered a done deal
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