Julien Alaphilippe (opens in new tab) (Deceuninck-QuickStep (opens in new tab)) reiterated that he does not want to sacrifice the classics or the rest of his calendar in order to focus on the overall classification of the Tour de France. The Frenchman held the yellow jersey for two weeks at the 2019 Tour and eventually finished fifth overall, sparking home hopes for his first win since 1985, but has yet to make a concerted challenge for the eventual overall victory.

"I know there are many people who want a Frenchman to win the Tour. I am one of them and I am very happy to see a Frenchman win. If I set that as my goal and achieve it, it will be divine," Alaphilippe said, according to Ouest France (opens in new tab).

"But I have many other goals besides the Tour, so I know that if I set such a goal, I won't be able to go anywhere else. For now, I have made the choice to focus on the classics and fight for the long season. It's a choice. Some riders are betting everything on the Tour, and some are not very visible early in the season. But there are others who make their presence felt early in the season, shine in the Tour, and are still there at the end of the season."

Alaphilippe, who won his second consecutive world title in Leuven this year, has already announced that he will slightly scale back his 2022 race calendar, forgoing the Tour de Flanders and the cobbled classics in order to focus on the Ardennes Classics.

Alaphilippe hopes to return to the Tour in July and mark the race again. Alaphilippe has won six races at the Tour and has worn the yellow jersey in the last three races. He also won the mountains title in 2018 and was honored as the most combative rider in 2019.

"In any case, on the day I decide to bet everything on the Tour, whether it goes well or not, I won't be shouting from the rooftops.

"The Tour is a tough race and the year I finished fifth, no one imagined I would make it. If I were to go for GC in the Tour one day, I would have that in mind. I'll start with that in mind, but don't dream too much."

Alaphilippe was speaking to promote his recently published autobiography and was asked to comment on concerns about the use of ketones and other substances that Arnaud Demaret has described in recent weeks while promoting his book." "Not everyone has the same restrictions on certain products like ketones," said DeMare, who belongs to Groupama-FDJ, a member of the Movement for Reliable Cycling (MPCC). 'I'm part of a team and I have the same commitment as any other rider. But the whole peloton is different from us."

"I'd have to read "his doubts," but I'm not sure what he's talking about.

"Of course, the peloton has players who express doubts and ask questions. But as long as I know what I'm doing, as long as I'm not worried about anything, I don't have those problems. Even if there are stronger and more "overwhelming" riders than me, if I start questioning, if I start thinking that way, then there is no point in going to training ......."