Despite winning two stages and leading the race last year for 14 days in the iconic yellow jersey, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) says he will not aim for the 2020 Tour de France overall.

The Frenchman will aim for the one-day races, like the Tour of Flanders, and stages in the Tour de France. Afterwards, he will go to the Tokyo Olympics.

"I will try one day maybe [for the Tour de France overall] but for sure not this year," he told FloBikes during an interview at the team's training camp in Calpe, Spain.

"No no," he insisted when asked again. "Because I have a lot of goals beforehand and I think it's difficult to be everywhere and I don't think about the GC in the Tour."

Alaphilippe took the Tour de France lead with a solo stage win in Épernay, the Champagne-producing hills. He lost it briefly to Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and once back in yellow, rode until eventual race winner Egan Bernal (Ineos) took over on the shortened Tignes stage, stage 19.

He went on to finish fifth overall in the 2019 edition behind winner Bernal. It continued the French drought – no home rider has won since Bernard Hinault last did so in 1985.

Alaphilippe remains clear that the overall is not his goal even if the 2020 route seems tailor-made for him with only one time trial and aggressive stages nearly every day.

"For sure, I will seize the opportunity day after day but my goal in my mind is not to take the start of the Tour with the possibility to win [the overall]," he continued.

"But I [said] the same last year and in the end, I was in a good position until the end. So yes, we never know, but there is also the Olympic Games one week after so, we'll see."