Patrick Lefevere called a ‘crisis meeting’ after lacklustre Soudal Quick-Step spring campaign
CEO demanded to know the reason for the team's poor showing at the cobbled races
Soudal Quick-Step manager Patrick Lefevere called for a crisis meeting after his team’s disappointing performance at Paris-Roubaix and throughout the cobbled Classics season. Although Tim Merlier did win Scheldeprijs, the Wolf Pack failed to place any rider in the top 35 at Paris-Roubaix and only had three finishers. Hardly the stuff you’d expect from a long-running Classics team.
Lefevere wrote the recent results in his weekly column for the Belgian newspaper, Het Nieuwsblad.
“Last Tuesday I called a meeting. For those who want to call it that: a crisis meeting. It is no secret that we were not involved in Paris-Roubaix either. The central question of our meeting was therefore obvious. Where does the lack of performance come from? There are then quite a few different options on the table. Does it depend on the material? Certainly not on our Specialized bikes, because I think it is still the best choice in the pro peloton. We discussed tubeless tires for some time, but I think Jordi Meeus rode in the top 10 with exactly the same type from the same manufacturer.”
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In recent years, the talent pool of the Soudal Quick-Step Classics team has diminished. Although Lefevere has recruited promising riders for the future, he lacks a consistent podium challenger in the Classics. Notably, Kasper Asgreen and Yves Lampaert should deliver more, while Julien Alaphilippe just admitted he raced through spring with a busted knee. Lefevere, on the other hand, thinks that poor performances may stem from inadequate preparation rather than a lack of talent.
“Should spring riders go on an altitude training camp, as Yves Lampaert, Julian Alaphilippe and Casper Pedersen, among others, did in February? The cyclists who seem to do well in the spring behind Mathieu van der Poel are the ones who ride small spring races in February, such as Etoile de Bessèges and the Coupe de France races. We don’t ride there because there are too many riders training to make selections,” he went on to say.
“We should not dramatize the situation,” Lefevere wrote as he dramatized the situation. “At the moment we have still won thirteen races. So, Only UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike have done better than my team. My sponsors use a helicopter view and mainly aim abroad anyway. Remco in Portugal and Landa in Spain certainly make them happy. It is the Flemish fans and media who have a fixation on Classics.”
Lefevere said that he is frustrated. “I’m trying to play my role, but at the moment it means staying silent and paying the wages. Apparently, it is not good for the atmosphere if I say my opinion too much and too bluntly,” he concluded. “But I see what I see and I feel what I feel. Well hidden in my pockets, I regularly clench my fists in frustration.”
The team will be without Evenepoel for the Ardennes Classics after the Belgian was injured in a crash on stage 4 of the Basque Country that left him with a broken collarbone.
