'Stage victory will be a dream' - Alaphilippe eyes seventh Tour de France stage win

Alaphilippe's opening half of the 2026 season was a difficult one, with illness affecting him. He took a full break to recover and spent three weeks at altitude in the Sierra Nevada, and then raced the Grand Prix de Gippingen and the Tour de Suisse in June to rebuild his form.

"Yes, I feel good, I did the maximum in the preparation, the last weeks went well. It's difficult to evaluate my physical condition, but I had good signals in my preparation and on the last trainings, so I'm very happy to be here at the start of my 8th Tour, and I'm very motivated," Alaphilippe said to members of the media, including Domestique, on Wednesday.

The Frenchman was diagnosed with an illness at the Itzulia Basque Country in April, which caused him to DNS stage 6, thus derailing the Ardennes classics campaign. That began with an early DNF at the Amstel Gold Race, followed by a DNF in a race he won in 2021, 2020, and 2018, La Fleche Wallonne.

"The beginning of the season for me was really not what I was looking for, I was not performing at all, and I had to stop the Ardennes Classics before the end, to have a break, a real break, and to restart, not from zero, but to restart properly, to build my shape towards the Tour de France."

Four weeks of altitude training in the Sierra Nevada were followed by his return to racing after a near two-month lay-off, and it was a positive one, as Alaphilippe finished fifth at the Grand Prix de Gippingen, and he felt his shape is continuing on the way up.

"Since then, I feel much better. I don't know if I can say that I'm 100%, but I think I'm getting close, and I feel good, to be honest. I feel really good, motivated, and let's see what we can do."

Tudor has taken only two wins in 2026 with Yannis Voisard's AlUla Tour stage victory and Lennart Lasch's breakthrough stage win at the Tour of the Alps. Alaphilippe acknowledged the team's difficult start and admitted he had a role to play in it, but denied that it had created stress or pressure for victories within the group, highlighting that it only makes the team more motivated to chase success at La Grand Boucle.

"It's not a surprise that the team is not as successful as we want since the beginning of the season, and I'm also part of it. It's not the beginning of the season I was hoping for, so it's not creating stress, but of course we are motivated even more to do a good Tour de France, because it's the biggest race of the year. It's really important for us, for everyone. We know how difficult it will be, but everyone is motivated, and I'm super happy to be here."

Going back to Alaphilippe, personally, he has six Tour de France stage wins across his career, all between 2018 and 2021. Although he has had near misses in recent years with some high-placing stage results, a seventh would be his first Tour stage victory in five years, and the Frenchman is going all in to chase a stage win in 2026.

"I'm ready to fight, to give my best, to bring a good result. Stage victory will be a dream. It's something that really motivates me a lot, and also for the team, so we will go for it and give the maximum."

Alaphilippe was then asked to compare the 2026 edition to his first Tour de France in 2016. That year, the Frenchman finished second on stage 2 behind Peter Sagan.

"It's not comparable. If I remember, my feeling from my first Tour de France, it was like, I was in a different role, to help and to discover, and feeling zero pressure at all, just the pressure from myself that I want to show that I can be there. I was already fighting for a stage victory. I think the second day, when Peter Sagan beat me, and then I experienced, the white jersey, some breakaways. It was a big experience for me, to be honest, maybe also a crazy one, with the breakaway with Tony Martin, that if I have to do it today, I will not. Now, of course, I have my experience. I'm still super motivated to perform. I still dream about winning a stage, and that's all."

Tudor Pro Cycling's 2026 Tour de France squad also includes debutants Yannis Voisard, Fabian Lienhard and Marius Mayrhofer. Alaphilippe spent three weeks at altitude with Voisard and said the young Swiss rider's first Tour reminded him of his own debut.

"To see Yannis, who discovers the adventure, we shared three weeks of altitude training together. It's his first Tour, I can see what he feels in his eyes. It's the biggest race in the world, and there's only this race that makes you feel that. Even if it's my eighth Tour, to see that it's his first, it makes me happy to be there. To know that he also relies on me, to be able to rely on little advice, on little things that make us a team. We are there to help each other, to suffer together to give the maximum."

Alaphilippe was asked how he manages competing against the younger generation of riders coming through the professional ranks.

"It's a reality, but I'm always passionate about what I do. I always like to suffer, I always like to surpass myself, to try to be the best of myself, to be the most performant possible. That's what makes me want to continue, even if the gap is getting bigger facing the younger generation. As time goes by, I have a less better recovery than the younger riders, of course. I'm also taking advantage of my last races, of my last seasons as a professional cyclist, and it motivates me even more to give my best, because I don't want to have any regrets at the end of my career. I'm very happy with what I've accomplished so far, but I also know that I still have the motivation to do great things, and on this Tour de France, even more."

Asked what a Tour de France stage win in 2026 would mean to him, Alaphilippe framed it around the difficulty of the last two seasons.

"It would have a lot of value for me. It would echo a lot of resilience on my part, because I've experienced great moments in my career, but also a lot more difficult moments, like these last years, last months. So yes, it's still something that makes me dream, to win a stage on the Tour, and if it happens, it would represent a lot for me."