French rider Julian Alaphilippe will continue with Quick-Step Floors, the team that launched him onto the pro scene back in 2014. One of the best young riders of the peloton, Alaphilippe has committed to the team for two more years.
This season, Alaphilippe took Paris-Nice by storm, riding to victory in the race’s sole individual time trial and conquering both the green and white jersey – a performance no one else has achieved in the entire history of the event – before sprinting to third from a reduced group in his maiden Milan-San Remo, a result which further underlined his potential and versatility.
Unfortunately, a knee injury put him on the sidelines and forced the 25-year-old to skip the Ardennes Classics, the Tour of California (where he triumphed in 2016) and the Tour de France. After overcoming this setback, Alaphilippe returned to racing two weeks ago, at the Grand Prix Cerami, from there flying to Spain, where he climbed to an impressive third place on the opening stage of Vuelta a Burgos.
“It was always my goal to stay with the team,” said Alaphilippe after putting pen on paper. “For me, continuing with Quick-Step Floors is the perfect scenario. I’ve made many good friends here and I feel at home, it’s basically my second family. The support I have from both Patrick and the team gives me a lot of confidence.
“Extending my contract means I can focus 100% on the important things and continue my progression. We have a really strong team that can do well in almost every race, so I could not be more pleased with where I am. This motivates me to get many other great results with this fantastic team.”
Patrick Lefevere explained why extending Alaphilippe’s contract for two more years came as an easy decision: “We signed with him three and a half years ago, as we saw a bright future in him and believed we could help him become even better and reach his goals. Since then, Julian has grown a lot and we are only confident he has not reached his full potential. Every rider we sign with is because we think he has a future in front of him and because we believe we can win with him, and it’s no exception with Julian.”
