"I have him in the team to win races, not to be charming" - Patrick Lefevere analyses Soudal - Quick-Step and Julian Alaphilippe's Tour de France woes

The 2023 Tour de France has so far not been a very successful race for the Soudal - Quick-Step team. Team boss Patrick Lefevere, never one to shy away from making his opinion known, has expressed his disappointment at the results.

"We have to say it like it is: it doesn't work for a meter in the Tour," he reviews of the first 13 stages in conversation with Het Nieuwsblad. "I'm not a man of statistics, but I read everywhere that it's been since 2012 that we couldn't win a stage in the first half of the Tour de France. Painful, you can't call it anything else."

Prior to the start of the race, riders like Fabio Jakobsen and Julian Alaphilippe would have been expected as the team's main hopes for taking stage wins. That isn't quite how it's turned out however, with Jakobsen no longer even in the race.

"The fact is that Fabio is a block of eighty kilos, all muscle. The level is so high in the Tour that there should be very little relief for riders with that physique on the way to go to the line somewhat fresh. See also Caleb Ewan," says Lefevere of his sprint star. "It is certainly not unwilling with Julian: stage after stage he jumps along, and then finally releases riders who you would think are less good uphill than him. We are all disappointed, but Julian himself most of all."

“I know Julian is doing everything he can to be ready. I read in the press about interest from TotalEnergies, but as far as I know there is nothing to do with it," he concludes, referencing the rumours of Alaphilippe's potential departure. "Nor is it something I aim for. To be clear: Julian is still valuable to our team. He remains France's most popular rider and the most charming person on any sponsorship evening. But of course: I have him in the team to win races, not to be charming."