Stéphane Küng will devote the next three weeks to the Tour de France and the Groupama-FDJ team's goal of helping David Gaudoux move up at least one spot from last year's fourth place in GC.

At the same time, however, he has the World Time Trial Championships in Glasgow in the back of his mind.

"It's definitely just part of the reason why I'm racing here," Küng told a small group of reporters on the Friday before the Tour de France starts in Bilbao.

"Usually three weeks of racing is the best preparation for the World Championships. It's ideal because there are more than two and a half weeks between the end of the World Championships and the start of the Tour."

The downside of this year's Tour route is that unlike the 2023 Giro, which has three time trials, there is only one Tour, and it is mostly uphill. Kühn also said, "It is not a good test for me because it is not a TT that suits my ability. Nevertheless, running here will give us the base conditions we need, and with TT-specific work, we can prepare as best we can."

The TT will also be the first time that the team has raced in the Giro, and the first time that the team has raced in the Giro in the past.

Cung participated in this year's Tour de Suisse, and given what happened there, he recognized that it would not be straightforward to enter the Tour with an emotionally and mentally normal mind.

"Physically, I'm fine, and I finished fifth at the Swiss Championships. But after Switzerland it was mentally complicated."

"At the same time, there is no time trial in the first week, no opening TT.

Asked how he was dealing with his emotions at this point, Cune said, "Usually after the Tour de Suisse I am in a good state of mind.

"Then there was the Gino Memorial on Saturday, which made me think again. Even though I know I have to continue, every time I ask myself the same question, I realize again that I can't keep going like this."

"So everything has been with me for the past two weeks and will be with me again for the next three weeks. Still, once the course starts, I can focus on the Tour, and once things start, it will be the usual race routine for the riders."

However, after the events of June 16, although he recognized that it was very painful for him, Küng said he did not intend for Mader's death to affect the way he races.

"Not at all. But I would sign on to what I was doing, even though there was a risk, and I think Gino would have done the same. After all, it's our passion, it's our life."

"Everything in life has risks. The moment you start to wonder if you're going to crash, you start to wonder if the risk is too great.

"You have to stay 100% focused on the race.

With this in mind, Cung looks at the Tour's course and says he will be fully focused for Gaudo and will give his maximum to help the Frenchman get on the podium.

"I will do my part for the team. And then in the second or third week, I'll have a chance. But it's still a stage of the Tour de France, even if it's not as simple as a time trial, where if you're in good shape you can win. "

One of only two Swiss riders in this year's Tour, along with Sylvain Dillier of Alpecin-Desseuninck, who had the lowest total in a long time, Kühn's thoughts when asked about this were simple: 'There should have been three, but there are only two'.

"Gino should have been here at the start, but sadly he is not.

"What it means to me, in inverted commas, it means nothing if I am "only one" of the two Swiss riders in this race.