The changes and reorganization of the cycling season have changed the goals of many riders as they return from the closure of COVID-19. One such rider is Julien Alaphilippe, leader of the Detunink-Quickstep team, and the French rider will head to Italy when the season resumes in August.

Although not part of the original plans for the 2020 spring calendar, the Frenchman will return to Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo in August. Alaphilippe won both races in 2019, making it the most productive season of his career to date.

Alaphilippe could compete in Il Lombardia, a week after Milan-San Remo and two weeks before the start of the Tour de France, or he could instead participate in the Criterium du Dauphiné.

This spring, Alaphilippe began his South American campaign with the Vuelta a San Juan and Tour Colombia 2.1, and has competed in the Von Ardèche Classic, Royal Bernard Drome Classic, and Paris-Nice.

He was supposed to debut at the Monument des Cobblestones this spring before heading to the Ardennes Classics, but that race, held after the Ardennes, will have to wait until mid-October.

Alaphilippe has already attended the Detunink-Quick Step training camp since blockade restrictions were eased in parts of Europe; in mid-June he joined many team members in Flanders, where the team scouted the Ghent-Wevelgem and Tour de Flanders scouted the route of the Tour de Flanders.

Last week, he rode the French Alps with Dries Devenance and Bob Jungels, previewing the Col de la Rose, stage 17 of the Tour de France.

The next step for Alaphilippe and the team as the season resumes is an 18-day training camp in the Dolomites. There, the team will be based in Val di Fassa and train at high altitude before racing in the Vuelta a Burgos in late July.