Something had struck us in the words by Julian Alaphilippe when announcing the signing with the Tudor Pro Cycling Team. The Frenchman's story about his exchange with Fabian Cancellara on family and team peace. They created a sort of bridge between the two enormous experiences in the field. We all found ourselves thinking that, regardless of any responsibilities, the last months of the Frenchman at Soudal-Quick Step were not ideal to perform at their bestLefevere's insistent words were destabilizing for an athlete who had not yet regained full physical efficiency after the injuries. Now that the body can pedal at the speed of the mind, we see a combative and victorious Alaphilippe again. Except that by then the omelette was done. The mistrust was insurmountable, the Belgian team didn't offer any contract renewals, and Julian signed with Tudor. You will find Ricardo Scheidecker, as we explained, and also Matteo Trentin who knows well.
The fire inside
Cancellara is the owner of the teams and, unlike what happens in professional teams around the world, he avoids pushing too hard on the accelerator. He is not rushing to promise the WorldTour, even if it is widely believed that his sponsors could easily handle the impact.. Growth is gradual, gradually bringing in the right men for the project. And the arrival of Alaphilippe and Hirschi, who joined Trentin and Dainese, began to form a rather convincing backbone.
«For us it is a great opportunity to have Julian with us – Cancellara explained to L'Equipe – for our project, with his way of running, his verve, his experience. When he wins it's one thing, but if one of his teammates wins he's as proud as if it were him. He's a simple guy who's kept his feet on the ground. He still has the fire inside him, the desire to do well."
A team rider
Cancellara knows how to live in the world and knows it well. And' has long been the backbone of Riis's teams, winning his most beautiful classics. Then he moved to Trek and with Luca Guercilena he ended his career by winning the Rio Olympics in the time trial. He knows that the biggest mistake is to to put the weight of the team on the shoulders of the big name riderIt happened to him, and he didn't always find it funny.
«It is not up to Julian to build the team – Cancellara continued – It must bring added value to our structure, but I'm not saying that it has responsibilities, pressuresIt's all of us, all together. And we have the responsibility to make it good. He must be able to return home and be peacefully with his family.I think Julian needs this, that tranquility, a good atmosphere, people he trusts, who believe in him, around him. He has nothing to prove, but I'm sure that if he has this balance, he will do the rest».
The Tour door
Of course the Swiss knows that The investment in French has two sides: the results it can bring and the doors it can open.Since its debut among the professional races, Tudor has received a warm welcome in Belgian races, but a little less warmly in France. It has never yet attempted the Ardennes Classics. Invited for the first time to the Paris-Nice, she managed to win the Montargis stage with Arvid De Kleijn, which after having given to the team the first victory ever at the 2023 Milan-Turin, thus offering the first in the WorldTour.
«We are a second division team – Cancellara explained – We want to continue as we have done so far and stabilize our organizationThanks to Julian, we'll have options, but we won't go where we can't stand out. We're not going to a race just to be there. If we go, we want to be offensive, compete, show unity and character. We can ask to participate in the Tour, but the decision is not in our hands. With Julian's presence, this won't necessarily happen. We have a big project on the table, but we haven't decided yet. If we continue to stabilize our organization and our racing style, getting closer to the top 20 teams could be a concrete goal.
