“Every year means a new beginning and never before has this been as applicable as this time,” Patrick Lefevere wrote in his New Year’s letter. The CEO saw his Soudal-Quick Step as “one of the best teams again” in 2023, but admits that the autumn was “turbulent”. Is the cult team really facing a new cycle?
Relationship status: It’s complicated.
How close the bond between Remco Evenepoel and Soudal – Quick Step still is after an eventful year will become clear in the next season.
The fairytale marriage seems to be increasingly turning into a relationship of understanding in which one of the parties is shackled by his contract and the other partner cannot do without the absolute symbol child.
At the beginning of 2023 everything still looked good, but the trust gradually crumbled and the water got deeper and deeper.
Evenepoel and his father presented Patrick Lefevere with a shopping list at a Michelin-starred restaurant, but the cart was not full of the required quality ingredients.
Cooking costs money and the team manager was once again tied hand and foot to his budget and reportedly delayed too long in finding a desired sous chef like Laurens De Plus or Pavel Sivakov.
Father and son Evenepoel when everything was still completely to your liking.
This has only fueled the Evenepoel clan’s frustrations even further, with a questionable war of words last summer during World Cup week in Glasgow being the absolute low point.
The blazing fire died briefly, but continued to smolder and suddenly became a giant flame again in the final weeks of last season.
The Soudal-Quick Step institute was almost swallowed up by Jumbo-Visma. A merger? Instead, let’s call it an acquisition where the tastiest snacks would be filtered out and there would be a lot of collateral damage.
The fusion failed, but the afterburners could not be ignored. Does the wolf pack leave no wolf alone? The motto seems burnt.
There’s been a lot of discussion in recent months about how to smooth out wrinkles, but it shouldn’t be surprising if it all reignites during the next downturn.
Especially when we return to discussing the star’s future. No matter how unassailable the marriage contract may be, the circle of potential lovers will continue to flirt until the herrings are roasted.
Poor races on the pavement
It is completely logical that Soudal-Quick Step does not want a divorce with Remco Evenepoel.
Even if the sponsors dare to qualify their dependence, the project stands or collapses with its presence. Their future is in his hands, his (near) future is in their hands.
Under the impetus of Evenepoel, the traditional team has changed its DNA in recent years, with a serious identity crisis, especially in 2023.
The team no longer breathes the classics and that change was also reflected in the results.
Of course there are always valid excuses such as bad luck, illness and too much competitive spirit, but the performance of the blue brigade in their field – the Flemish classics – was painful for the eyes. As if they were denying their own soul.
Just like in 2022, Remco Evenepoel had to save the spring. Lefevere is right if he wants to draw up the report only after Liège, but this does not mean that all the other tests can be done well. Evenepoel continuing to save furniture year after year is not a guarantee.
Before and after?
Our year was so bad, will they make up for it internally? More than 50 victories, a monument, stages in the 3 Grand Tours and a 3rd place in the UCI ranking: three quarters of the teams sign up for such a package under the Christmas tree.
The quantity remains staggering, but the quality has deteriorated slightly. Evenepoel in particular hides a lot about himself.
Julian Alaphilippe, that other scoundrel (from the past), continues to struggle with himself. His perseverance and good will arouse sympathy, but isn’t it time the former world champion confessed what he really had in mind?
The relationship with Lefevere, almost his second father for a long time, seems to have soured. The fact that his cousin and coach Franck Alaphilippe was sent away will not have done the band any good.
It is striking how the coach spoke of “tensions between his cousin and Lefevere after the talks between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-Quick Step” while everyone could see that the bickering had already existed long before the negotiation.
Julian Alaphilippe’s contract expires at the end of 2024.
#LandaLibera
Alaphilippe will once again put the cobblestones on the plate in 2024, Evenepoel is working towards his successful entry into the Tour de France through a limited programme.
Next summer we’ll be able to find out just how strong Evenepoel really is as a man of classification amidst all the brutal violence. Has a concrete explanation for the collapse of the Aubisque been found?
A champion like Evenepoel may not have had a complex situation, but the leader was very much hoping for a calm winter without many side stories. It seems that order was respected in the Spanish refuge.
Mikel Landa should become Remco Evenepoel’s right-hand man.
In Mikel Landa, a young climber with an attractive CV was hired, but at 34 the Spaniard is no longer a young and fresh colt.
5th place in the Vuelta will satisfy the Belgian champion, even if he doesn’t immediately associate Landa with the much-needed dose of willingness to sacrifice.
Landa will be able to dispel doubts, combines Tour and Vuelta, but he is the only concrete reinforcement with a certain fame.
Evenepoel will however be able to continue to count on their trusted entourage with Mattia Cattaneo, Louis Vervaeke and Ilan Van Wilder at the top.
Sprint tradition
Given budget limitations, the signing policy was otherwise limited to many young (Belgian) talents with a group of graduates from our own coaching team.
There is great internal confidence in their value, but external students like Paul Magnier and Antoine Huby also have to pay off in the long term.
Already this year we expect flashes from the promising sprinter Luca Lamperti. Fabio Jakobsen’s departure will certainly give the American opportunities.
Due to Jakobsen’s exit, Lefevere starts the season with only one top sprinter for the first time ever.
Tim Merlier does the honors, but has to make do with sprint experts like Michael Morkov, Florian Sénéchal or Davide Ballerini. Soudal-Quick Step no longer seems to be the leading team in the sprints.
Declercq, Jakobsen and Morkov smell the fresh air.
The list of departures has created a crater and the verbal barbs from Tim Declercq and Sénéchal, among others, are sobering. 12 starts, however, is not a positive indicator. How homogeneous is the block?
Although everyone knows that Lefevere – supported by a new COO – and his pack will respond very harshly when pushed into a corner.
It will be up to Kasper Asgreen, Yves Lampaert and Van Wilder, among others, to prove that the Soudal-Quick Step is no faded glory.
Do the ambitions need to be adequate? This certainly doesn’t fit with the year in which Evenepoel wants to conquer France with a yellow-gold plan.
However, it may not be unwise to occasionally swallow your tongue as a first step. The word is silver, silence is gold. However?
- Biggest loss: Fabio Jakobsen turned professional in 2018 at Patrick Lefevere’s stable and became a top adult rider under the West Flemish rider’s care. After the Polish nightmare their bond is even more intense, but the budget and strategy pushed Jakobsen in a different direction. With pain in the heart for both sides.
- Surprising: Soudal-Quick Step has 27 riders, the fewest for a WorldTour team. This is not an excess given the busy calendar, but the professional team wants to integrate the selections for the smaller competitions with young people from the training program to give them a taste of the big job.
- revelation: Due to the departure of Jakobsen, Vernon and Ballerini there is a gap in the sprinters’ group. Luca Lamperti (21) can fill that void. The American dominates the criterium circuit and is at his best after a tough race. His love for the classics and the speed of his legs brought him into the arms of the blue band.
Debutants Mikel Landa (Spa) Bahrain Victorious Gianni Moscon (Ita) Astana Luke Lamperti (USA) Trinity Jordi Warlop Soudal-Quick Step Devo Gil Gelders Soudal-Quick Step Devo Warre Vangheluwe Soudal-Quick Step Devo William Junior Lecerf Soudal-Quick Step Devo Ayco Bastiaens Alpecin-Deceuninck Devo Paul Magnier (Fra) Trinity Antoine Huby (Fra) Vendéé Leavers Florian Sénéchal (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) DSM-Firmenich PostNL Michael Morkov (Den) Astana Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Tim Declercq Lidl -Trek Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek Stan Van Tricht Alpecin-Deceuninck Ethan Vernon (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech Jannik Steimle (Ger) Q36.5 Mauro Schmid (Zwi) Jayco-Alula Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Movistar Dries Devenyns retired
2024-01-04 07:20:33
#SoudalQuick #Step #wolves #pack
