
It has been two and a half months since Julian Alaphilippe has crashed harshly during Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and now, fully recovered from his injuries, the focus is in returning to racing soon and to quickly be back to form ahead of the Vuelta a España and the World championships which will be his last goals of the season.
"Julian will be well at the start of the next Vuelta," Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team manager Patrick Lefevere said during the Tour de France's rest day. "For now, he is training and he is very relaxed. He feels much better physically. We are not going to lie to each other, it was very hard for us and for our sponsor not to select him for the Tour this year because he is a double world champion, French and extremely popular."
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Alaphilippe's absence from the Tour was a surprise despite the fact that he wasn't carrying his best form, aswell as the initial non-selection of Florian Sénéchal - and to a certain degree, Mark Cavendish. "Not long ago, he said to his friend and teammate Dries Devenyns: 'Finally, luckily I'm not on the Tour this year otherwise I'd be knocked out after eight days.' Our choice not to have him selected therefore seems justified," Lefevere explained.
The World champion is currently training in altitude in Livigno, Italy, and has revealed his calendar ahead of his second Vuelta a España, where he he will be aiming for stage wins and form ahead of the Wollongong Worlds where he will try and obtain a third consecutive rainbow title.
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He will be racing the Ethias-Tour de Wallonie from the 23rd to 27th of July, Clásica San Sebastián in the 30th of June and the Tour de l'Ain from the 9th to 11th of August. The Vuelta a España begins on the 19th of August in Utrecht.

Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
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.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
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)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
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