'He's not stupid' - Patrick Lefevere praises Evenepoel after Soudal Quick-Step fight off hostile bid for their star rider

A year ago, a few moments after Il Lombardia, Remco Evenepoel ended reports and speculation that he might leave Soudal Quick-Step to chase his Grand Tour ambitions with a rival super team. This year he publicly promised to respect his contract for 2025 during the world championships, after a reported deadline from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe passed without a deal being reached.

Team manager Patrick Lefevere and new CEO Jurgen Fore were able to enjoy Evenepoel's second place at Il Lombardia on Saturday and the wider success of the 2024 season. They have again fought off a hostile bid for their star rider and biggest asset and done what they could to satisfy and support Evenepoel's lofty ambitions.  

Evenepoel is hungry for success but appears to have accepted for another year that he needs to be patient and play a longer game. He will only turn 25 in January and his contract with Soudal Quick-Step ends in 2026. His father Patrick, acts as his agent and has often criticised Soudal Quick-Step but Evenepoel is far more diplomatic but still demanding. He has always publicly denied any issues with the team.  

"He's not stupid," Lefevere told Cyclingnews when asked about Evenepoel's apparent patience.  

"His goal was to do the Tour in 2025 and he did it one year before the goal. They have to give us the time we need to adapt with the possibilities we have. I can't call a Sheikh and ask for an extra five million euros, it doesn't work like that. Remco understands that."

Lefevere made it clear several times during the summer that any rival team would have to strike a deal and perhaps pay a multi-million contract buy-out if they wanted to secure Evenepoel's services for 2025. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe apparently tried but were repelled.  

"Three parties can decide a rider's future: his current team, the team where he could go and the rider. Nobody made an offer, so for me, the case didn't exist. It was only in the mind of some people and some journalists," Lefevere told Cyclingnews.

"Some people made a lot of noise but then nothing happened."

Lefevere's personal relationship with Evenepoel and his father appears to have cooled and they are rarely seen together but that does not stop them from working together for the success of Soudal Quick-Step.

"When he's good, he's very good. I think he won every time trial he rode. He's only 25 next January, there's still some progress to come," Lefevere said praisingly.  

"He won two gold medals at the Olympics and it was special the way he won them. He won the time trial stage at the Tour and finished third overall and wore the best young rider's white jersey every day. He was consistent, despite being unlucky to crash at the Itzulia Basque Tour and fractured his collarbone."

Lefevere has lost Julian Alaphilippe, KasperAgreen and Jan Hirt but has signed Valentin Paret-Peintre, Max Schachmann, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Ethan Hayter and talented young Italian Andrea Raccagni-Noviero. Mikel Landa, James Knox, Mattia Cattaneo, Luke Lamperti, Tim Merlier, Paul Magnier, Mauri Vansevenant and Martin Svrcek all remain, creating a mix of experienced and young talent that is more and more suited to Gand Tours, while also trying to shine in other races, including the Classics.

The 2024 Soudal Quick-Step team is likely to finish third in the WorldTour rankings, behind only UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike.    

"Our budget is the seventh or eighth in the WorldTour, so third is pretty good," Lefevere said with a sense of pride."

Aiming for more in 2025

Outgoing Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout has been linked to Soudal Quick-Step for a performance role in 2025, perhaps taking on some of Lefevere's responsibilities.

Vanthourenhout and Evenepoel are close after his success in Belgian national colours, especially at this year's Olympics but Lefevere did not seem overly enthusiastic about major changes to his staff structure and the arrival of a Performance Manager figure.

"I spoke with him but we won't take a decision before our team days," Lefevere said, hinting it probably won't happen.

"Performance is the new sexy word, right? But what are the qualities of a Performance Manager?  What did you study to be one? The lessons of the street or the lessons of school?"  

Soudal Quick-Step aim to repeat and even improve on their 2024 season.

Evenepoel made it clear he wants to enjoy his end-of-season holiday before thinking about new goals but the team will gather next week to lay the foundations for 2025.

"We spoke briefly this week about 2025 but we have some team days from Oct 21-25 to put down the outline programme for 2025. I don't think there'll be any big changes to this season," Lefevere revealed.

Lefevere has previously suggested Evenepoel could target the 2025 Giro d'Italia and then also ride the Tour de France. That seems ambitious, with Evenepoel clearly preferring the Tour after falling in love with the race and finishing third on his debut this year.  

"He wants to win the three Grand Tours during his career. He's won one, the Vuelta, so there's two to go," Lefevere said, giving little away until the routes of the Tour de France and Giro are revealed in late October and mid-November.