All you need to know about the most successful – and often most controversial – team manager in modern cycling history
Former Soudal-QuickStep CEO Patrick Lefevere is one of the most successful, influential, and controversial figures of modern cycling history.(Image credit: Getty Images)
Former Soudal-QuickStep CEO Patrick Lefevere is one of the most well-known faces and names in the professional peloton, having run the Belgian WorldTour team for over 20 years after taking the reins back in 2003.
The Belgian, who turned 70 in January 2025, had been involved in cycling at the top level for over five decades before stepping down from his CEO role at the end of the 2024 season.
Read on for all you need to know about Lefevere, one of the most successful, influential, and controversial figures of modern cycling history.
Racing in the 70s, directing in the 80s and 90s
Before taking on the role that most cycling fans know him for today, Lefevere was a racer, turning professional in 1976 and riding for Ebo-Cinzia and Marc Zeepcentrale-Superia before hanging up his wheels in 1979.
He was no slouch on the bike, either, despite not being one of the major stars of the day. During the 1978 season he beat riders including Walter Planckaert to take the win at the Omloop der Beide Vlaanderen (now known as Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne), while later in the spring he took the biggest win of his career with a victory on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España in Valladolid.
He'd race one more season before retiring and turning his attention to a new career as a directeur sportif, starting out at Marc Zeepcentrale before taking on the same role at several other teams – Capri Sonne, Lotto, TVM, Weinmann, and GB-MG. With the latter, he directed riders including Wilfried Peeters, Franco Ballerini, Mario Cipollini, Johan Museeuw, and a young Davide Rebellin.
In 1995, having won races including the Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem (three times), and Amstel Gold Race at GB-MG, he switched to the all-conquering Mapei squad, taking the Belgian core of Museeuw, Peeters, Carlo Bomans, and Ludwig Willems with him.
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The team, which melded Belgian and Italian Classics specialists together in the famous jerseys featuring the brightly coloured bricks of the title sponsor, would go on to dominate the Classics during the mid-to-late 1990s.
With Lefevere on board, first as a DS, and in 1999 and 2000 as general manager, the team would win the Tour of Flanders twice and Paris-Roubaix five times. The triumphs at the latter included an unprecedented three Mapei podium sweeps led by Museeuw, Ballerini, and Andrea Tafi.
During his time with the team, Mapei would rack up an unbelievable 366 victories, including a record 81 during the 1997 season. That record would stand until Columbia-HTC won 85 races in 2009, while UAE Team Emirates equalled the record in 2024.
After surviving a cancer scare with a pancreatic tumour in 2000, Lefevere switched teams again the following year, joining Domo-Farm Frites for two seasons. Once again he made the move along with a Belgian contingent of racers, with Museeuw and Peeters on hand to found the new team along with Leif Hoste, Axel Merckx and further familiar names such as Richard Virenque and Robbie McEwen.
The team wasn't as dominant as MG-GB or Mapei, but once again they showed up big-time at Paris-Roubaix, with Servais Knaven leading home Museeuw and Romans Vainšteins in another one-two-three for Lefevere. 2002 brought another Paris-Roubaix victory, the seventh of Lefevere's career, as Museeuw soloed into the famous Roubaix velodrome three minutes clear of second place.
Patrick Lefevere through the years
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Lefevere with Johan Museeuw – who raced under him at GB, Mapei, Domo, and QuickStep – in 2004(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere and Tom Boonen in 2013(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere with Paolo Bettini in 2007(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere with his long-time charge, first as a racer, then as DS, Wilfried Peeters(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere with Mapei-QuickStep partner Marc Sergeant(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere with Philippe Gilbert in 2017(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere at Domo-Farm Frites with Richard Virenque in 2001(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere had an at times combative and controversial relationship with his own riders, including Julian Alaphilippe(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere at the 2021 Tour de France with Mark Cavendish(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere with Tony Martin in 2012(Image credit: Getty Images)
Pictured here in 1999, Tom Steels worked alongside Lefevere for decades as rider and director(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere presents his most successful QuickStep squad – the 73-win 2018 team(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere with his last superstar, Remco Evenepoel, in 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere, pictured here in 2003, was no stranger to speaking his mind to the press(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere with another titan of Belgian cycling, Eddy Merckx, in 2009(Image credit: Getty Images)
Lefevere didn't always live up to the nickname this cake bestowed upon him(Image credit: Getty Images)
Two decades of unprecedented success at QuickStep
For 2003, there was a new team – this time bringing the remnants of Domo and Mapei together under new sponsors, QuickStep-Davitamon. Once again, Museeuw and Peeters joined Lefevere, the latter retiring and starting work as a directeur sportif at the Belgian squad.
The likes of Paolo Bettini, a young Tom Boonen, and the mercurial Frank Vandenbroucke also signed on for the ride as Lefevere brought together the team which would define his career more than any of his previous stops.
In his role as general manager and CEO at QuickStep – which in recent years gained the nickname of 'The Wolfpack' – where he ruled for 22 seasons, Lefevere has overseen a laundry list of cycling superstars of the 21st Century.
For years, his team was again known as the dominant force in the spring Classics, with riders including Boonen, Stijn Devolder, Philippe Gilbert, Niki Terpstra, Kasper Asgreen racking up 14 Flanders and Roubaix titles, among countless other one-day races.
Top sprinter after top sprinter have also passed through the team, with Mark Cavendish, Sam Bennett, Marcel Kittel, Fernando Gaviria, Alessandro Petacchi, Elia Viviani, Fabio Jakobsen, and Tim Merlier all contributing to the biggest win lists in cycling year after year via the vaunted QuickStep sprint train.
Lefevere's forays into the Grand Tour GC world were less successful, with signings including José Rujano and José Antonio Pecharromán failing to match the Classics and sprint stars. In recent years, the rise of Remco Evenepoel, around whom the team has been rebuilt, has 'solved' Lefevere's long-standing GC problem with wins at the Vuelta a España, a host of stage races, plus five Olympic and world titles.
In over two decades as boss at QuickStep, then, Lefevere has overseen the most successful cycling team in the world. Since 2003, the team has won 981 races, a number unmatched in the sport and unlikely to be reached by any single team in the foreseeable future.
In addition to that overwhelming success, Lefevere also became known over the years for his gruff and straightforward manner which has seen him court controversy with various statements about women's cycling and his own riders.
In recent seasons, Lefevere has been forced to apologise in order to avoid a fine for what the UCI called "public comments considered as disparaging towards women", while he had previously said that he was "not a welfare centre" when asked if he might start a women's team.
He has also had several high-profile fallings out with several QuickStep riders, heavily criticising several – including Sam Bennett and Julian Alaphilippe – who had been battling injuries and underperformance. He notably criticised the Frenchman for being "under the influence" of his partner Marion Rousse, while upon Bennett's move away from the team, he likened the sprinter to "women who return home after domestic abuse".
However, despite his many controversial remarks and newspaper columns, Lefevere stands as one of the most important and influential figures in modern cycling – in Belgium and beyond.
His success as a directeur sportif and team manager over decades of racing will likely never be matched, while his ability to keep QuickStep running – co-sponsors alongside the ever-present flooring company have included Davitamon, Innergetic, Omega Pharma, Etixx, Deceuninck, and Soudal – attracting major stars, and winning on a limited budget must also be applauded.
Now, despite stepping away from his role as Soudal-QuickStep CEO, he remains involved in the sport. He continues to pen a regular column for Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad and visited his first race of 2025 with his former team at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel, and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
