Julian Alaphilippe will unexpectedly skip Dauphiné to join Marc Hirschi at Tour de Suisse

Julian Alaphilippe has a nice track record of three stage wins at the Critérium du Dauphiné across his seven participations. But in 2025, the French star won't take the traditional path in his Tour de France preparation, instead opting for the simultaneous Tour de Suisse where he'll form a powerful stage-hunting duo with teammate Marc Hirschi.

Compared to his long history with Dauphiné, Alaphilippe has raced the Swiss WT stage race only once, back in 2021. In what would turn out to be the 32-year-old's last big season (to the date), Alaphilippe came close to winning also in Switzerland, but ultimately abandoned before the final, decisive stage. Later, he went on to win his sixth Tour de France stage in the world champion's jersey, and later defend the rainbow stripes in Leuven.

If Alaphilippe's 2025 were to turn out in a similar fashion, it would be welcomed by both the rider and his team Tudor Pro Cycling, but it would be all means a massive surprise. But regarding the 8-day race at hand, Alaphilippe can aim to compete for victory in no less than half of those stages, if in a good shape.

Later this season, Alaphilippe should ride the aforementioned Tour de France and before that also the French National Championships scheduled for the next Sunday after finish of Tour de Suisse. But without a strong team to support his ambitions, it will be difficult to succeed and steal the tricolore from the hands of numerically strong home teams.