'Having WorldTour invitations gives some peace' – Tudor Pro Cycling aim higher in 2026 with Küng, Alaphilippe and Storer as leaders
Storer targets the Giro GC, Küng the Classics and Alaphilippe the Ardennes
The Tudor Pro Cycling team is not part of the WorldTour in 2026, but will compete and surely be successful at the highest level as they cdìontinue to grow and improve with Swiss precision and Fabian Cancellara's ambition.
The team made just a few strategic signings for 2026, adding Stefan Küng and Luca Mozzato to boost their Classics squad, the USA's Will Barta and Robin Donzé from their development team. Alberto Dainese left for Soudal-QuickStep, but Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi and Michael Storer remain in the second year of their contracts.
Tudor made their Tour de France debut in 2025. They went close to a stage victory and are more ambitious for 2026, even if Storer will again target the GC at the Giro d'Italia. Alaphilippe will target the Ardennes and Küng the cobbled Classics before combining for the Tour de France.
Küng will lead the team in the opening Tour de France team time trial and make his debut in Tudor's red and black colours at the Mallorca Challenge TTT.
"I've been TTT world champion three times, and so I think I know what it means to be fast and get faster," he said during Tudor's team presentation on Wednesday.
"The TTT is a big objective and is good for our GC hopes, too. A good TTT shows all abilities and means we start the Tour on the right foot.
"I've come close many times in the Classics, but I still dream about winning one, so why not this year?"
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Storer is not expected to target the GC at the Tour, instead taking a shot at the Giro podium, having finished 10th overall last year.
"2025 was a really successful season for me, a perfect run. I had some bad luck in the Giro but was there in every other race I was competing with the best," he said.
"I think I can still improve in all aspects. We've been working on them, and hopefully, more results will come. I can do better than in 2025, a lot better. A dream situation is to do a podium at Giro, to aim higher at the Giro."
Tudor won 15 races in 2025, not a huge number, but they included some significant WorldTour victories and numerous placings.
Storer won stage 7 at Paris-Nice and finished fifth overall, then also won the Tour of the Alps, rode the Giro d'Italia and the Tour, before finishing third at Il Lombardia.
Julian Alaphilippe struggled to be competitive in his first few months at Tudor, but he was often a vital team player and came close to a stage victory at the Tour. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec was his only victory in 2025, but it was indicative of a return to his best. Matteo Trentin also returned to form, winning Paris-Tours at the end of the season.
Hirschi was again below par in 2025 and was not involved in the team leader's presentation media moment. It will be interesting to see how he performs in 2026.
Thanks to their UCI points haul in 2025, ProTeam Tudor secured automatic invitations to all the WorldTour races. Cancellara and team CEO Raphael Meyer will travel to Australia to see his riders in action at the Tour Down Under.
"We do all the Classics and all three Grand Tours," Cancellara said, confirming their 2026 race programme.
"We'll be proud to see the guys racing in Australia at the Tour Down Under after we went there in 2020 when we were still creating the team.
"For sure, having WorldTour invitations gives some peace. It's new for us, before it was 'could we go' to races. Now we can go everywhere and even choose – comfortable situation. We won't change everything. We've added races, but having a guaranteed calendar helps a lot.
"2026 is an important start to the three-year WorldTour cycle. To reach that WorldTour goal for 2029. We also want to win a stage at a Grand Tour and we're also looking forward to the Classics.
"If we do things right, put things in place, 1+1=2, so we will get the results."

Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
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