Julian Alaphilippe ‘not in top’ shape but signs good at Tour Down Under, says DS

After being hyped up as one of the pre-race favourites, Julian Alaphilippe only managed to finish fourth on Willunga Hill on stage 5 of the Santos Tour Down Under, but his Soudal Quick-Step team insist there are positives to be taken from his performance on Sunday.

The Frenchman is on the path to a return to form after a difficult few seasons in the peloton, and on Sunday was back in the mix fighting for a WorldTour victory for the first time in several months. He held onto the fast pace up the climb and only faltered in the final sprint.

“I think he went a little bit too early, he went on and then they passed him,” Soudal Quick-Step sports director Geert Van Bondt told GCN at the finish of stage 5.

“But I think we can be happy with the result, like we said we came from Europe and he did some nice training here before [the race], but we know he’s not in the top shape like he normally is, so we can be really happy with the result we had today.”

Read more: Tour Down Under: Alaphilippe plays down pressure in all-important year

Alaphilippe was perhaps less happy with his result, exclaiming in frustration once he got back to his team car, but his DS was keen to look at the big picture. The 31-year-old’s last victory was in the Critérium du Dauphiné last June, and part of the reason why he is in Australia is to try to rediscover that race-winning level, particularly up against big names.

“For us the most important thing is to bring him back to this level, into the finals,” Van Bondt said. “We know that teams like Jayco and Yates, they are really eager to win this race and they are really good, so if he can follow them then we have to be happy. It was just fifty metres too far.”

Despite the pre-race suggestions that Alaphilippe was here to win the overall, Van Bondt has been clear in saying the team’s interest is in starting the Frenchman’s season well, to find out where his form is ahead of the Spring Classics and the summer.

Read more: Julian Alaphilippe targets Tour of Flanders victory in 2024

On Saturday, Van Bondt had his first chance to see how Alaphilippe is climbing, and this is the first step in discovering what he needs to improve on going forward.

“For us, it was an important stage to see how far he can go, and we saw today that he was there with only about five riders left. We know there were a lot of guys who were aiming for this race to do a really good GC and for us, the aim was to see how far and how good Julian is so far in the season and towards the Classics, so we can be really happy with that result.”

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Casper Pedersen spent 104km in the breakaway on stage 5

Though a win hasn’t been forthcoming for Alaphilippe nor his team so far this race, there is still one more stage, and after Casper Pedersen’s performance in the breakaway on stage 5, the Belgian squad have options to chase an early-season result.

“Tomorrow is normally also a good stage for him, but now with GC it will be a little bit different, so we’ll have to see who’s in the breakaway and who’s not,” Van Bondt said. “We have to see if it’s a good race situation for us and then maybe we can try something again. Of course, you need the team as well, to make efforts like this on the climb, because it’s a really hard stage tomorrow.”