Alaphilippe targets Tour de France stage win after rebuild from spring illness

Alaphilippe finished 76th on Saturday's individual time trial in Aarburg, 2:29 down on stage winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). The 34-year-old made no claims for the day.

"It was a beautiful course, which favoured the specialists. There were long sections where you had to be well-positioned and really push. The heat has been a big factor these past few days. I didn't have any grand ambitions," the Frenchman said to DirectVelo.

The Frenchman had abandoned the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne in April, then withdrew from Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Eschborn-Frankfurt. The Sierra Nevada training block came in May, with the comeback at the Grand Prix de Gippingen last weekend. Alaphilippe finished fifth there in a race won by Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché), with Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) one of the riders in the lead group alongside the Frenchman in the finale. Tudor Pro Cycling sports director Sylvain Blanquefort assessed the return.

"He was physically among the strongest in the race. He was able to stay with a rider like Mathias Vacek in the finale. He finished 5th; it wasn't a WorldTour race, but the level was high. He could have finished 2nd or 3rd if they had caught up to the front."

Alaphilippe rode in a 14-rider breakaway on stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse to Locarno but was not among the six riders contesting the finish. Blanquefort framed that as part of the rebuild.

"He still lacks a bit of consistency on some days. He was average on the first day, the second day was good. He's on the right track. His week has been encouraging. The goal is to rediscover his form and the joy of cycling. There are ten days left before the start of the Tour."

Alaphilippe will not race the French National Championships at La Tour-du-Pin on 28 June. The decision leaves the Tour de Suisse as his final Tour de France build race.

"I hope to finish well and then recover as well as possible. It's a tough race, as always, but especially this year with the heat."

Blanquefort restated the season target.

"The Tour de Suisse is shorter than usual, but the objective remains the Tour de France. It's something important for him and for the team. He wants to do things right to be ready for the Tour."

Alaphilippe is in Tudor's 2026 Tour de France selection alongside Stefan Küng, Michael Storer, Matteo Trentin and Rick Pluimers, with the team racing as one of three ProTeams given automatic Tour invitations alongside Pinarello-Q36.5 and Cofidis. The Frenchman has six Tour de France stage wins from his career, all between 2018 and 2021, and is targeting a seventh in July.

"The goal is to capitalise on the days when he feels really good and has targeted them, and to take it easier on other days."