Julian Alaphilippe motivated to return stronger in next races after mediocre Algarve: "There is still a lot of work to do"

Julian Alaphilippe opened his debut season in Tudor Pro Cycling colors with a decent 8th place in a reduced sprint at Figueira Champions Classic. However the solid feeling didn't translate on his next appearance at the Volta ao Algarve where the Frenchman settled for just 20th overall.

Alaphilippe reacted after his passage on his performance of the day and on his 5 days of racing in Portugal: "I gave it my all! It was the last stage, I didn't have much to gain, so I just wanted to enjoy myself and really give it my all. It was also the first time I rode my new time trial bike, so I think there is still a lot of work to do, but overall, I am really happy with my week. It was important to make an effort, to find some rhythm after two weeks of training."

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Tudor is leaving Volta ao Algarve empty-handed as Alaphilippe wasn't quite yet in the shape to challenge to world's best riders and on stage 3, their sprinter Alberto Dainese saw his 2nd place taken away from him: "We have adopted automatisms with the team, and even if Alberto was unfortunately relegated from the sprint, we were not far from winning a stage. So, frankly, we can be happy with our week," he concluded.

Next up for Alaphilippe will be the Paris-Nice in two weeks' time. Back on his home roads, the 32-year-old will try to score a better result than in Portugal. In particular stage 5 with a very steep finish (1.9km at 10.2%) should be of interest for the three-time La Fleche Wallonne champion: "I think that now, the main objective is to recover well before Paris-Nice. But yes, I am really satisfied."

Next races on the schedule for Julian Alaphilippe:

• Paris-Nice (March 9-16)
• Milano-Sanremo (March 22)
• Amstel Gold Race (April 20)
• La Fleche Wallonne (April 23)
• Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 27)

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