Alaphilippe, the Tour de France in danger

For some, a successful Tour de France means already being at the start. Of the 22 teams which will set off from Lille next summer, we already know 20: the 18 residents of the World Tour, and the two best Continental teams of the season, Lotto-Dstny and Israel-Premier Tech.

There are two places left to take, and they will be played out between the two 2024 guests, Uno-X Mobility and TotalEnergies, who shone this year, and their new major competitor, Tudor Pro Cycling, the Swiss team which recruited Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi. “The feeling is still very good, but we have to take seriously the fact that Tudor has entered two very good riders with Hirschi and Alaphilippe. But at the same time we had a brilliant season,” summarizes Thor Hushovd, the general director of Uno-X, with TV2.

Alaphilippe's team was not the presentation of the Tour

The Scandinavian team wants to convince the organizers of its motivation, and that is why it came in large numbers to Paris last week for the presentation of the course, with five runners and several managers. “We wanted to meet ASO, the management, the organizer, talk to them and show them that we are serious about this matter, explained House Manager. It is important to be present and simply visible. There were few runners here. This shows that we take this seriously and that we value ASO as an organizer. We are fighting to get this invitation again. »

Uno-X therefore plays the good student, and does not hesitate to point out the absence of Tudor in Paris last week.
“When the leadership of ASO gets together and takes stock of all this, they will talk about the fact that Uno-X was there, that the owner was there, and we take that seriously. At Tudor, they were not present, Tudor. I didn't see anyone from them. I believe such things need to be talked about. » We'll see what ASO says.