Julian Alaphilippe headed Quick Step's Tour de France team announced on Tuesday. 

The French rider is making his return to the cycling spectacular for the first time since 2021. 

He missed last year's edition as he recovered from injuries sustained in a fall in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day classic. 

The 31-year-old two-time world champion tuned up for the Tour, which starts Saturday, with a sprint-finish win in a stage of this month's Criterium du Dauphine. 

He has six Tour de France stages to his name and claimed the king of the mountains' polka dot jersey in 2018. 

As expected, teammate Remco Evenepoel sidesteps the Tour in favor of preparing for the world championships in Glasgow in August. 

Joining Alaphilippe when the race sets off from Bilbao are Fabio Jakobsen, Kasper Asgreen, Remi Cavagna, Tim Declercq, Dries Devenyns, Yves Lampaert and Michael Morkov.