Julian Alaphilippe looking for winning Tudor debut at the Figueira Champions Classic: "I really like the final circuit"

Julian Alaphilippe, twice world road champion in 2020 and 2021, faces a new challenge in 2025. He'll be racing for the Tudor Pro Cycling Team, a second-tier team that has legitimate ambitions to become a World Tour team and has shown that at the start of the season, where they've already scored three victories.

Julian Alaphilippe will be making his debut for the Swiss team in Portugal at the Figueira Champions Classic, followed by the Volta ao Algarve. These races will also mark Alaphilippe's racing debut in Portugal, something that had never happened since he turned professional in 2014. Speaking to the team's official website, he said he was looking forward to this new stage: “I am very excited and motivated. Starting the season with the new team is already special, but being at the start of a new race in a new Country for me makes it even more meaningful. All these “first times” make me really motivated, I am looking forward to it.”

This season, Alaphilippe starts a little later, in February, unlike previous seasons when he raced in January. Those days were used for a two-week altitude training camp in Teide, Tenerife, alongside some of his new teammates. “It was the first time in Tenerife, and everything was perfect. It was a great opportunity to bond with the team, both riders and staff, and train in an amazing setting. The atmosphere was fantastic, and the preparation went really well.”

Regarding the course of the Portuguese classic, "Loulou" approved of it and believes he can achieve an excellent result. “Tomorrow’s course is tough. I really like the final circuit - the climbs are challenging and controlling the race won’t be easy, but it’s good for us: we have a strong team and hope to bring home a great result.” There will be 192.7 kilometers, with the final circuit marking the race, there will be 3 laps, with 6 climbs in total, each of them passed on 3 occasions - Rua Parque Florestal (2.3km at 7.8%) and Enforca Cães (0.8km at 7.3%), the latter just 6 kilometers from the finish.

Alaphilippe will be the undisputed leader tomorrow, but the team also has other valid cards to fight for a good result, such as Yannis Voisard and Florian Stork, who won the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana this season. The rest of the Tudor line-up for the Figueira Champions Classic is made up of Robin Froidevaux, Jakob Eriksson, Robin Donzé and Arno Wallenborn.