Patrick Lefevere has revealed that his Soudal-QuickStep squad held a “disaster assembly” within the wake of their disappointing cobbled Classics marketing campaign. The Belgian additionally acknowledged that their prospects within the Ardennes have been dimmed significantly by Remco Evenepoel’s absence.
For the third 12 months in succession, Soudal-QuickStep made little impression on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, races they’d dominated over the earlier decade. The one solace from their Classics marketing campaign was offered by Tim Merlier, who received Scheldeprijs and Nokere Koers.
“Final Tuesday, I referred to as a gathering. A disaster assembly, for many who wish to name it that,” Lefevere wrote in his Het Nieuwsblad column.
“It’s no secret that we had been lower than it in Paris-Roubaix both. So the central query of our assembly was apparent. The place did the dearth of efficiency come from? Fairly a couple of totally different avenues got here up. Is it right down to the gear? Definitely to not our Specialised bike, as a result of for my part it’s nonetheless the most effective within the peloton.
“We mentioned tubeless tyres for longer, however I feel Jordi Meeus [of Bora-Hansgrohe – ed.] completed within the high 10 with precisely the identical sort from the identical producer.”
The Soudal-QuickStep CEO questioned whether or not the core of his Classics squad ought to have raced extra typically in February as a substitute of an altitude coaching camp.
“The riders who did effectively in Spring behind Mathieu van der Poel are those who rode small races in February, corresponding to Étoile de Bessèges and the Coupe de France races,” mentioned Lefevere. “We do not experience these as a result of there are too many riders away coaching to make up choices.”
In an interview with Le Parisien this week, Julian Alaphilippe revealed that he had raced the Classics with a fractured knee sustained in a crash at Strade Bianche. The Frenchman, topic to bracing criticism from Lefevere initially of the season, didn’t reveal the harm publicly as a result of he didn’t want to be seen to be making excuses for his subdued shows.
Lefevere insisted, nonetheless, that Soudal-QuickStep have up to now loved a profitable marketing campaign exterior of the cobbled Classics, with Evenepoel and new arrival Mikel Landa shining earlier than their crashes at Itzulia Basque Nation.
“We’ve nonetheless received 13 races thus far. Solely UAE Workforce Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike have accomplished higher,” Lefevere mentioned. “My sponsors take a worldwide view, and so they primarily focus overseas anyway. Remco in Portugal and Landa in Spain definitely make them glad. It’s the Flemish followers and media who’ve a fixation on the Classics.”
In years previous, Lefevere has at all times leant on an outdated truism when discussing his group’s struggles on the Classics, declaring that the stability sheet for the Spring is simply tallied up after Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
In 2022 and 2023, Evenepoel duly bailed out the group by cruising to victory in Liège, however he misses this 12 months’s Ardennes Classics after breaking his collarbone at Itzulia Basque Nation. With Alaphilippe constructing in the direction of his Giro d’Italia debut, Ilan Van Wilder has been referred to as in to steer the road for Soudal-QuickStep.
“As De Brabantse Pijl made clear: the group’s effectiveness can be restricted within the Ardennes,” mentioned Lefevere, who admitted that Ilan Van Wilder would experience Flèche Wallonne “a bit in opposition to his will” after being pulled from a coaching block forward of the Tour de Romandie.
“I fully perceive his place, however coaching alone is a privilege we can’t afford presently,” mentioned Lefevere, who this week revealed a brief assertion on the Soudal-QuickStep web site apologising for disparaging feedback he made in the direction of ladies.
The 69-year-old was final month deemed to have breached the UCI’s Code of Ethics and was handed a 20,000 CHF nice, which was suspended on situation of a public apology.
