ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK
Looking for: Stage wins, stage wins, and more stage wins
It is not unfair to say that Alpecindeceuninck is a team of two superstars accompanied around France by six not particularly well-known riders. And when it comes to superstars, they don’t come much bigger than world champion Mathieu van der Poel and last year’s green jersey winner Jasper Philipsen. While other teams have split strategies, hoping to win sprints and challenge on GC, Alpecin are all-in for stage wins.
Both Van der Poel and Philipsen have been on carefully tailored programmes to deliver them to the Tour de France in top form. The former last raced at Liège-bastogne-liège, since when he has been training at altitude, while Philipsen tested his legs at the Belgium Tour (12-16 June) after last racing at Paris-roubaix.
“I leave a week later than the rest of our Tour squad on altitude training to La Plagne,” Van der Poel explained last month. “After that, I’ll work through some individual training sessions until the start of the Tour in Florence. In the meantime, we have gained enough experience to know that once in competition, I quickly find my form.”
As for his Tour goals: “I hope to assist team-mate Jasper Philipsen again in his hunt for stage wins and a possible green jersey. And the goal is to win a stage myself this year. Last year I got sick when there were a few stages where I had chances. Hopefully I will be spared from that in this edition.”
The stage wins could start as early as punchy stages one and two, which seem set up for a rider like Van der Poel, before the sprints start on stage three, in which Philipsen will be the favourite.
The Belgian won four stages last year, and seems likely to continue his winning run. If he can win as many stages as last year and hang on through the mountains he will undoubtedly claim the green jersey again. If he takes fewer sprint wins, the points competition might be more open this year.
Also on the team is Søren Kragh Andersen, who has failed to add to his Grand Tour win tally since 2024, but could still bounce back with a win from a breakaway.