World champion Julien Alaphilippe (Deschuninck-Quick Step) admitted that the Tour de France is the race he would most like to add to his list.

Alaphilippe had his sights set on the world title even before he took the rainbow jersey in Imola in September. In an interview with Eurosport's Bistrot Vélo program (open in new tab) on Monday, he was asked what victory he now craves above all others.

"After winning the world championships, I want to win the Tour de France," Alaphilippe said.

"The two races that always gave me dreams were the World Championships and the Tour de France. Of course, I would love to win the Monuments and the Classics, but if I could only choose one, it would be the Tour."

"I would love to win the World Championships and the Tour de France.

However, Alaphilippe stressed that he was merely answering a question rather than making a statement of intent.

"I didn't say I would win. I just said that if I could only pick one race to win, that would be it."

The Frenchman finished fifth overall in the 2019 Tour and wore the maillot jaune for two weeks, but this year he did not fight for the overall, winning the second stage in Nice and holding yellow for three days before finishing 36th overall in Paris.

"The route for the 2021 Tour is good and motivating. But for now, I'm just thinking about preparing for the start of the season, and the Tour always comes a little later," Alaphilippe said. Alaphilippe's impressive debut at last month's Tour of Flanders was cut short after he crashed and broke his right hand twice during the race for the win.

"I like the Tour of Flanders and I really want to return. The Tour of Flanders is my favorite race and I really want to go back. I'm going to ride a big block of classics early in the season, but I haven't talked to the team yet."

Alaphilippe reiterated his view that the crash in Ronde was not the bike riders' fault. He said, "I'm not blaming anyone, I'm not blaming myself, I'm not blaming anyone, I'm not blaming myself.

He also allowed Primoš Roglic to get ahead of him in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The race jury later demoted Alaphilippe to fifth place for obstructing Marc Hirschi of Team Sunweb in the sprint.

"I rode very well beforehand and all people remember is my sprint. When you wear the World Champion jersey, the slightest mistake is immediately relayed a thousand times. That was a lesson learned."

Deceuninck-QuickStep won 39 races, more than any other team in the 2020 season, which was interrupted by the pandemic. Remco Evenpole had won 10 races before a massive crash at Il Lombardia on August 15 ended its season prematurely. The young Belgian will be at the forefront of the team in the upcoming Grand Tours, and Alaphilippe insisted that the two could ride together.

"We are not competitors. On the contrary, I am very happy when he wins a race and so is he," Alaphilippe said.

"We have already experienced races where he runs for me or I give him a hand.

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