Cycling news - Julian Alaphilippe not keen on Tour without fans

The French Minister of Youth and Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, suggested on Wednesday that a race could go on without fans, telling l'Equipe: "It wouldn't be too difficult to have to have to watch the Tour on television."

Although conceding it could come to fruition, Alaphilippe finds the thought far from appealing.

"I'd rather not imagine it - the public are part of the Tour de France - imagine the World Cup in a stadium without an audience," Alaphilippe said.

"I am divided. For me, the Tour is the Tour, and if it takes place – even if it's postponed – it's the best thing.

"But a Tour without an audience wouldn't be the same."

Maracineanu has previously said it is of "paramount importance" that the Tour de France goes ahead.

"We are in contact with [race organisers] ASO,” Maracineanu told France Inter radio, while talking about the Olympic Games and other sports. "It is of paramount importance that these events can be held."

ASO have been tight-lipped about the chances of the Tour going ahead, with race director Christian Prudhomme saying recently: "Only two world wars have stopped the Tour de France.

"It is still more than a hundred days until the start of the Tour. The hunger for the race will be immense once activities are resumed."

Among those to have been called off have been the Giro d'Italia, Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, while France, like other European countries, is under a strict lockdown that also stops professional riders training outdoors.