His main opponents will be Colombians, with Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), winner of the event in 2020, and Ivan Sosa (Movistar), winner in 2021 ahead of Alaphilippe.
Egan Bernal, 3rd last year, was the other expected Andean climber, but his serious fall in training at the end of January forced him to forfeit.
To replace him, his Ineos Grenadier team will trust the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, Olympic champion and 3rd in the last Tour de France… if he is sufficiently recovered from his fall on Friday during the Etoile de Bessèges.
Alaphilippe, he will approach this back-to-school race "not 100% but motivated, and in a hurry to put on (his) world champion jersey".
"During the preparation, I stopped riding for a week and missed an important training course. I have been working well for ten days but I have fallen behind," he explained during a videoconference on Wednesday.
"The objective is therefore to find the rhythm of the race and to make violent efforts that we cannot reproduce in training", explained the runner.
If he hopes for a result, the French will only be supported by four teammates, two others, positive for covid, being ultimately non-starters.
After a flat 7.1 km prologue along the Etang de Berre on Thursday, he will have to be wary of the edges in the Camargue on Friday, with the wind expected.
The race will end in the Pre-Alps with a mid-mountain stage on Saturday and therefore the ascent of the Montagne de Lure (1600 m) on Sunday.
A last-minute guest, the world time trial champion, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadier), will be the big favorite for the prologue of this 7th Tour de La Provence on Thursday, four days after his victory in the same event at the 'Etoile de Bessèges in Alès (Gard).
The Italian will then serve Carapaz.
Note that the Olympic time trial champion, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, will not participate in the competition.
It should not resume until the end of February in France for the Boucles Drôme-Ardèche.
© 2022 AFP