While the focus has been on the impact that Remco Evenepoel’s transfer will have on his new team, we ask is this the start of something big for Soudal Quick-Step?

It’s undeniable that any team is going to miss a rider of Remco’s ability. However, it’s equally undeniable that his former team struggled to transition from being dominant one day race specialists to Grand Tour contenders. Even a cursory analysis of their record over the years shows that they have been in decline since Patrick Lefevere announced those ambitions in 2021 on signing Louis Vervaeke as a mountain domestique.

The volatility of the final years of Lefevere’s stewardship and the merger that went up in flames in such spectacular fashion in late 2023 can’t have helped. The narrative of a team that can’t afford to fulfil its ambitions isn’t a particularly easy product to sell to potential sponsors, however capable and wily the salesman. Especially while the embers are still hot.

UCI World Tour Best Team

2019 was undoubtably their last great Classics year with Julian Alaphilippe winning Strade Bianche, Milan - Sanremo and his third La Fleche Wallonne. Zdeněk Štybar winning E3 and Omloop Nieuwsblad, Bob Jungels taking Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, Fabio Jakobsen, Scheldeprijs and Phillipe Gilbert winning his fourth Monument, Paris - Roubaix. Since then the pickings have been a little sparse.

The signing of perhaps the most Quick-Step ready rider in the peloton, Jasper Stuyven, is surely a signal of intent. Even if it’s a quiet one that has been drowned out by the noise of losing one of cycling’s current superstars. But Stuyven is no slouch. A Monument winner with his 2021 Milano-Sanremo coming a little before Alpecin’s 3 year lockout. His second place in 2024’s edition of E3 Saxo Classic, podium in this year’s Paris-Roubaix alongside his 6th and 7th place in the 2026 De Ronde and Milano-Sanremo respectively shows there’s still life in the 34 year old. Perhaps showing his recent supportive role for Mads Pedersen was a little wasteful of his previous team.

A further addition is another one day specialist and Monument winner Dylan van Baarle. At 34 years old his transfer from Visma Lease a Bike added more Classics experience to the team. On signing for Quick-Step van Baarle praised the Wolfpack spirit:

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Soudal Quick-Step, a team that I was watching on the TV when I was young. Especially during Tom Boonen’s days. It’s a dream come true to become a member of the Wolfpack from next year. From the outside, it gives the impression of one big family and I’m glad I will be part of it. My goal is to be back at my best level for the Classics, and hopefully, we will fight for victories there.”

Past Masters

This does raise the obvious question about an ageing team and perhaps seems strange when others of their generation have moved on. Would the loss of Julian Alaphilippe have happened in this post Lefevere era? We have no way of really knowing but the public criticism that went far beyond the sport may have been a factor. Kasper Asgreen, yet another Monument winner, is a particularly strange one to have let go at the much younger age of 29 though his relatively modest results last season may justify it a little more.

If there was still any doubt about the new focus of the team the avalanche of ‘old’ new names continued with the arrival of Sep Vanmarcke, Niki Terpstra, and Tim Declercq as sports directors from 2026. Both Terpstra and Declercq highlighted the importance of the Classics and the new reality in racing them in a pre season interview on the ‘Wolfpack’ YouTube channel in with Terpstra highlighting the new era of racing:

“I think that the big difference is that the final starts earlier. I mean it’s not only the last one, one and a half hours full gas but for sure already the last two hours it’s full gas, so I think that’s a big difference. So tactic wise we have to keep that in mind and also adapt to it. The first part of the season in the cobbled Classics, if we can play a role in the finals, then I will be happy. And of course it will be great if we can take some prizes. Hopefully a win.”

Spirit of the Wolfpack

The Wolfpack mentality is definitely a factor that has elevated them beyond other teams in the past. There reputation for togetherness is also a factor for Declercq and something he wants to bring back to the squad:

“That Wolfpack spirit in the team, that no individual is greater than the team. I used to love that a lot in the past. That mentality.”

Sprinting prowess has also undoubtably been a recurring strength of the classic Wolfpack squads. It was with Quick-Step that Mark Cavendish equalled Eddie Merckx’s Tour de France stage record. Their continued power in this area is covered by Tim Merlier and his understudy and probable successor Paul Magnier. Both tied to the team with contracts running to the end of 2028 and 2029 respectively. They have featured heavily in the Wolfpack’s ambitions this Spring. Merlier in particular has secured a number of Classics wins including triumphing at Schelderprijs.

While the Spring Classics season may not have been the roaring success they would have hoped for, and it may take a little time before the Wolfpack is back to the dominance of their 2018 and 2019 seasons which saw a phenomenal 141 wins across the two seasons, a change is definitely in the air.

Whisper it quietly. The giant is stirring!