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.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I live in Maribor.PogiSloFans14-11-2026
- I live in Ljubljana and often go on trips in the surrounding area, where I frequently see young cyclists in 'Pogi Team' jerseys training, either alone or in groups. By simply motivating so many young people to take up cycling, Tadej has already achieved something truly significant.Velijo14-11-2026
- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026 - Indeed! A reluctant gift maybe. Even more reluctant gift from Roglic! Tho I can’t see that Rog would have beaten Ving anyway.Lozza14-11-2026
- That really nasty crash in 2022 Liege must have played a big part - broken ribs, pneumothorax. You only have to look at his points tallies pre and post.Lozza14-11-2026
- Yeah, good luck getting tv and race organisers like ASO etc to part with their cash!Lozza14-11-2026
- 36 and Ineos have bought a rider on the downward slope. Bring back Dave and Rob who could manage the team. How are Ineos going to win a grand tour with people past their sell by date.paultryan200214-11-2026
- Mmmm would he be making these comments when he was on the richest team when riding. I think not i suspect. If we want money put into the sport we need sponsors who are prepared to put the money in. No disrespect but his team are 2nd or 3rd div in football terms with riders over the hill or 2nd string riders. If i was a sponsor i would be looking at what publicity am i getting back and Tudor really are just making up the numbers really.paultryan200214-11-2026
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
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