'I hope the win will come soon' - Julian Alaphilippe finding old sparkle as Tour de France approaches

He’s still here. Julian Alaphilippe hasn’t shone with the same regularity in recent seasons, but the Frenchman has shown significant signs of form at the Tour de Suisse, and the trend continued on the tough finale to stage 5 on the climb of Castaneda.

Alaphilippe has moved up to second on the general classification, 29 seconds behind compatriot Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), after he placed seventh on Thursday’s stage.

Indeed, when overnight leader Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) was distanced, Alaphilippe accelerated on the final climb in a bid to take the yellow jersey for himself.

That effort eventually petered out, but Alaphilippe still limited his losses on the day to 1:22, and he remains in contention for a high overall finish after he gained ground in the split on the opening day of the race.

“I felt good, and I had a bit of confidence in myself,” Alaphilippe told L’Équipe TV. “I accelerated, but I quickly reached my limit, and after that, I just had to get to the top."

“We knew it was going to be hard today, it was a stage for the GC, but I’m still happy to have been part of the front group.”

Alaphilippe leads Tudor at this Tour de Suisse alongside Marc Hirschi, and the Frenchman was expected to target stage wins from the break at this race. His high ranking on GC, however, has forced him into a different kind of race.

“Like I said this morning, I didn’t imagine finding myself in a position to fight for GC,” he said. “But I have a decent advantage, so you have to fight every day, and it’s good for the team. I gave my maximum, so no regrets.”

Whatever the eventual outcome in Switzerland, Alaphilippe will hope his display this week is a portent of things to come this summer, with the French Championships and the Tour de France on the horizon. 

Alaphilippe has struggled to make an impact since swapping Soudal-QuickStep for Tudor last winter, and he hasn’t won a race since the final day of the Czech Tour last July. He will hope for better when he returns to the Tour de France after a one-year absence.

“I’m happy, but I hope the win will come soon,” Alaphilippe said. “It’s the first step towards finding my best level, but winning is something else, and that’s what I want to do.”