Quick-Step DS: "A good Alaphilippe will race again with Van der Poel and Van Aert in the classics"

Julian Alaphilippe has started his season at the Tour Down Under and was in contention for victory at the Old Willunga Hill. Now with a different role at Soudal - Quick-Step, the Belgian team is hoping to get him back on track to fight for victories in the spring with the current day's stars.

“When Julian got on the plane on Tuesday morning, he said that he really enjoyed being here and that he left with a very good feeling. He was very happy to have done the Tour Down Under instead of training in and around Calpe, as he had done for ten years," team DS Geert van Bondt told Het Nieuwsblad. “I am convinced that a good Alaphilippe will race again with Van der Poel and Van Aert in the classics. After the Omloop and the Strade Bianche we know how he stands.”

The former World Champion will be back in action in Belgium now at the Opening Weekend. He will likely follow a calendar of one-day races now throughout the spring, having the Tour of Flanders as his big goal. There he will face the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, in a field that grows ever strong as the years go by. For Soudal - Quick-Step, the Australian experiment was a success.

“A happy Alaphilippe, even though he didn't win: that was what we had in mind. We want him to ride finals again instead of throwing himself into hopeless escapes," van Bondt continues. "That he learns to compete for victory again. Because in the end that's what it's all about. The fewer the results, the less the confidence. The Tour Down Under has been a very good test. I know from my own experience that once you get off to a good start, the rest becomes easier. The doubts are gone.”