"The preparations went well" - Julian Alaphilippe primed and ready to take on the Tour de France
Cycling
For the sixth time in his career, Julian Alaphilippe is set to take on the challenge of the Tour de France after being officially announced as part of the 8-man Soudal - Quick-Step team.
“I’m looking forward to the Tour de France, it’s always an exciting period of the year," the 31-year-old Frenchman tells the official website of his team after their lineup was revealed. "I went on a recon of the start in Bilbao, and I can tell you it will be a beautiful and hard weekend."
Alaphilippe's form has returned to somewhere near his best recently and the former two-time World Champion is keen to return to winning ways at his home Grand Tour. "At the beginning of the month I did a solid Dauphiné, where I felt in good shape, got a win and took pleasure in riding, and the preparations went well," he explains.
"The Tour is a truly huge adventure, every day you have to fight together with the team, and has a really special atmosphere, with all the people along the roads," concludes Alaphilippe. "I’m ready for Le Tour.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- So far, a good series about riders before my time, even if the text feels AI generated like so much on this site. About the rider, he seems like one of many who are active fan favorites but don’t survive in the stories of cycling, a few decades later - I didn’t really know anything about him and this was a good read, thank you!RidesHills15-11-2026
- A calm, honest documentary, a bit of hagiography but mostly not too much. When he talks about a coffee shop, it aligns with several things in his world - he might want calm, but he does (more than a little bit) have someone near him (his fiancee) who makes sure that things happen the way he expects. Many atheletes have retired only to find out just how much others were taking care of their lives for them. If they work out (I'm old, things happen), I am sure it will take a renegotiation, which is a good thing. I truly enjoyed watching it, seeing him, seeing her, seeing the whole system built around him.RidesHills15-11-2026
- You do? My mother grew up around Bleiburg (Pliberk), across the border in Austria . My grandparents lived close to the train station in Bleiburg, and I spent a lot of the 70s and 80s there. The "Jugo" train of my youth went to Dravograd or Maribor, exotic places (behind the wall) at the time. What a moment that was, the 10 days war of '91 - times sure have changed.RidesHills15-11-2026
- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
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Eight wolves are ready to take on the biggest race in the world 🤘 From Bilbao to Paris, a journey sprinkled with stunning landscapes and gruelling climbs, @LeTour promises to be again a memorable adventure, and Soudal Quick-Step is looking forward to the next three weeks 🤩
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