If he's still not back to his WCRR-winning level then yes.
But peak Alaphilippe was just below MvdP / Wout level, and was in the mix at Flanders and LBL. Not to mention he owned Flèche, and won MSR/Strade. But time moves on. This seems to be a make or break year at QS. I think we'll see him on a French team in 2025...
The thing is, Alaphilippe is already bigger than Lefevere, and Lefevere nowadays is afraid of dismissing Alaphilippe. Patrick just doesn’t dare.
So I fear Julian stays another few years at SQS, to earn much money, and doesn’t really care if he won’t win big, any more. No one can take away his WC titles, so Julian now apparently feels that it cannot get better than this, any more, and takes it (too?) easy.
If they dismiss Alaphilippe, SQS on paper will look even weaker than they already look. I have the feeling 2024 could become a(nother) difficult year for them.
Julian has beautiful triceps and calves, skinny, fleshy, beautiful. But that won’t be enough to intimidate his opponents, I think.