Quick-Step announce surprising Tour de France lineup - Alaphilippe, Cavendish and Sénéchal not selected
Cycling
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team have announced their lineup for the Tour de France and it contains some surprises, with notable absences and a team focused on stage wins but also the hilly stages.
Fabio Jakobsen will be the team leader as he makes his debut in the Tour de France, in search of stage wins and the green jersey. Michael Morkov and Yves Lampaert will be his main support crew, with Florian Sénéchal a notable absence after his current run of form, win at the national championships and traditional position in Jakobsen's leadout. Mark Cavendish has also been confirmed to not have been selected, something which he himself was expecting despite his win at the nationals.
Perhaps most surprising of all though is the absence of the World champion Julian Alaphilippe. Het Nieuwsblad reported his morning the news, and it's now confirmed despite the Frenchman's very quick recovery from injuries sustained in the Ardennes classics. The team has not ignored the hilly stages though, as both Mikkel Honoré and Andrea Bagioli come as surprises in the lineup. Kasper Asgreen also comes as a surprise after his injuries sustained at the Tour de Suisse which do not ensure the Dane will be at his best form, but nevertheless he will be helping the leadout and hunting breakaways throughout the race.
Although having struggled in the mountains, Mattia Cattaneo has been showing a lot of prowess in the time-trials and finished 12th last year at the Tour, and he is likely to be targeting a Top10 place, with the assistance aswell of the two riders above. Tim Declercq concludes the squad, he who will be working long days at the head of the peloton in the flat stages, and guiding Jakobsen through the mountains.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team for Tour de France: Fabio Jakobsen, Kasper Asgreen, Mattia Cattaneo, Tim Declercq, Yves Lampaert, Mikkel Honoré, Michael Morkov and Andrea Bagioli.
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- 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
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. So just saying he wasn't enjoying racing anymore is some kind of explanation? Me saying I don't enjoy his explanation is more explaining than he did.flyer14-11-2026
- Buitrago, was he their best rider in 2026? He's the chief loss for them and Martinez and Tiberi (especially) have to step up or they will be overtaken by Bahrain's younger riders like Omrzel. I'm still somewhat high on Martinez but Tiberi, after showing signs of promise, has fizzled. Bahrain still has a good team but they need to improve and exceed expectations. I'd be happy if Mohoric could manage to return to his better form for maybe one last year at least.flyer14-11-2026
- Hmmm, "... I just gained 30 seconds purely off the bike. Because it's really a big, big improvement compared to the previous bike". Is that marketing for Specialized or serious valid hype, or something in between? Very likely the former.flyer14-11-2026
- Nothing revelatory or controversial. Why do we have to report on Bruyneel's or Armstrong's thinking. It's a shame and enough that the Move's on TV and that people watch it .flyer14-11-2026
- Makes sense that training from home is a big asset or advantage but it's still remarkable that he can put in three quality majors and not pay some heavy price for the exertion. I wish he would have won that tour stage that his crash while leading allowed Carapaz the win. He's a darn good rider and teammate.flyer14-11-2026
- Sounds like we all agree with the over under exaggeration: "The German’s signing does not guarantee that Evenepoel will win the Tour in 2027. "flyer14-11-2026
- Seixas appears to be that good but if he isn't (an absolute rival to Pogacar) he would have plenty of company in rising stars that did not go on to fully meet the expectations of many. That Pogacar wasn't the greatest (as great) sooner can't be transposed onto another's development. It may be not that simple.flyer14-11-2026
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We give you our strong and motivated eight-man team for #TDF2022 (1-23 July), which for the first time in history will start from Denmark: quickstep-alphavinylteam.com/en/news/5618/q… Photo: @BeelWout
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