Julian Alaphilippe: "I am satisfied and already looking forward to the next stages"

It was a strong start to the season for the World champion, in the roads of Provence he finished amongst the best and is showing promising form.

In a post-race interview with the team he confirmed his good feelings: “I’m really happy to be here and get my season underway. Doing it with a prologue was demanding and gave me the opportunity to see where I am after this winter. I wanted to do my best and see where that took me. At the end of the day, I am satisfied and already looking forward to the next stages."

"There is zero pressure in the team, but we will try our best until Sunday. The objective is to have fun and find the race rhythm again. The motivation is there and if there will be an opportunity for a stage victory, we’ll try to grab it," he concluded.

Alaphilippe finished the prologue in sixth place. He's put some time on most of his rivals for the possible GC contention, and will have to hang on today with the best if he wants to take the win on sunday in the overall classification.