After a decade in Belgium, Julian Alaphilippe starts the 2025 season ‘super motivated’. He feels good with his new Swiss team Tudor who are also counting on him a lot to grow.
At 32, the former double world champion believes that it was ‘the right time for this big change’ after ten years at Soudal Quick-Step where his adventure ended this winter with a bit of bitterness because of his complicated relations with boss Patrick Lefevere, against a backdrop of declining results.
He has found refuge for the next three seasons in a young, long-toothed team, led by former Bernese champion Fabian Cancellara, who, since his creation in April 2022, has been moving up the ranks four by four.
‘I liked the project from the first discussions we had with Ricardo (Scheidecker, sporting director), ‘Raphi’ (Raphael Meyer, general director) and Fabian (Cancellara). I immediately liked the idea of being part of this young team but with a lot of character and ambition,’ explained the Frenchman on Tuesday during the presentation of the Tudor season in Moraira, in the south. is from Spain, where his team is in training.
‘It’s a challenge for me too, it was my instinct that decided, I’m very happy with my decision. They know where they want to go, that really motivated me,” he insisted.
Ending the 2024 season ranked 22nd in the world in terms of UCI points, the Swiss team, backed by the luxury watchmaker, may have great ambitions, but it is still sailing in the second division (the World Tour is reserved for the top 18 teams) , which forces him to wait for invitations from the organizers to participate in the biggest races like the Tour de France.
A new reality for Alaphilippe who, as a result, did not really know on Tuesday what his program will be beyond its start during the Figueira Champions Classic in Portugal on February 16 followed by the Tour of the Algarve and then Paris-Nice in March, for which Tudor was invited.
Its bosses are hoping that his arrival, as well as that of the Swiss Marc Hirschi, very prominent at the end of last season, will convince the organizers to welcome them.
‘I hope we can compete in all the races we dream of running,’ said Alaphilippe, thinking in particular of the Tour de France, the race of races.
‘I’m always optimistic, it’s a dream to go to the Tour, it’s in our heads of course but it’s still far away’, underlined the Frenchman who hopes ‘to find his best possible level’ in 2025, on the launch of a season already better than the two previous ones.
As for his cohabitation with Hirschi, with similar characteristics, he judged that it was ‘a problem of the rich’. ‘There will be no rivalry between us. Deep down, I have the character of a leader, of an attacker and that will never change. But I have always been happy to help my teammates and I would be happy to see Marc achieve his goals,’ he assured.
/ATS
