AG2R Citroën team manager Vincent Lavene, working on the long-term development of the French WorldTour team, is interested in signing Julien Alaphilippe (open in new tab) as team leader for the 2022 Tour de France (open in new tab) He admitted that he is interested in the following.

AG2R Citroën has moved Romain Bardet to Team DSM and signed Greg Van Avermaert, Bob Jungels, Ben O'Connor, and Lilian Calmejian, but lacks Tour de France candidates and French mainstays for 2021. 25-year-old Benoit Cosnefrois is a big talent, but Alaphilippe is at his peak, is a well-known French rider, and could be an overall winner at the 2022 Tour de France.

Alaphilippe's contract with Deceuninck-QuickStep (open in new tab) ends next season, making him an obvious target for Lavenue.

"We have always been on the lookout for any opportunities," Lavenue told French newspaper Sud Ouest cryptically after the team unveiled its 20201 roster and new racewear on Thursday.

Like all team managers already working on long-term plans for 2022 and beyond, Lavenue knows that Alaphilippe could be a strategic signing. However, since Alaphilippe is under contract through 2021, he fears that he will be accused of pulling a rider out of the deal. Nevertheless, Alaphilippe has expressed interest.

"We have to see first if they are on the market, and they should be. But they should be," he told Sud Ouest.

"He's a rider that everybody likes, one of the best riders in the world. With a partner like Citroen, there is no reason not to challenge him. But there is time for that ......."

Deceuninck-QuickStep manager Patrick Leferet will no doubt call for early transfer talk, as he did recently when it was reported that UAE Team Emirates was interested in signing Joan Almeida. But the experienced Belgian team manager knows that in order to keep his leading players, he must secure the team's long-term future.

The Belgian team has played a key role in Alaphilippe's success in recent years, but the short duration of rider contracts has kept the transfer rumors alive in the pro cycling world: UCI rules state that riders and teams can only announce new contracts after August 1, but even then, informal discussions with the rider This does not stop informal discussions with riders' agents or personal pre-contractual agreements.

Sud Ouest has suggested that Alaphilippe hopes to decide on a team for 2022 in the spring and that Lefebvre may choose to focus on building a Grand Tour team around Remco Evenpoel.

The entry of French car brand "Citroën" reportedly gives Lavenue a budget of 23 million euros for 2021, perhaps even more for the Alaphilippe deal. Alaphilippe, a world champion and global star of the sport, could demand about 5 million euros per season. He confirmed his current contract with Deceuninck-QuickStep in the summer of 2019, stating that it is for two years.

Alaphilippe recently admitted that the Tour de France is the race he would most like to add to his pawns, but stopped short of suggesting that he will be aiming to win the overall in 2021.

Alaphilippe had his sights set on the world title even before he won the rainbow jersey in Imola in September. In an interview on 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."