Patrick Lefevere returned home early from the Tour de Rwanda, where his development team was racing, to watch his World Tour charges in action on Opening Weekend and the veteran team manager was very unhappy with what he saw. And if some of his riders who were out of contract this year wanted an extension, they had to "show their colours" because he would be on the opposite side of the table deciding who gets those new deals.
Lefevere added his team rode like a shadow of their former selves and that Jumbo Visma had clearly taken over as the strongest team; bossing the action at the key moments and dominating the results, just as his team used to.
Remco Evenepoel took the overall victory at UAE Tour for Soudal-QuickStep at the weekend and Tim Merlier won two stages of that race. Julian Alaphilippe was also back to winning ways, at Faun-Ardèche Classic (1.Pro) in France on Saturday. However, Lefevere's team is used to taking victories in the big early season one-day races in its home country of Belgium. And the team manager was upset at being dictated to by Jumbo Visma and having to battle for scraps behind the damage the Dutch team meted out at the front.
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“I didn't come back from Rwanda to see this," Lefevere said after the weekend's racing in Belgium, while also dismissing Yves Lampaert's suggestion the team had bad luck with crashes. "Ultimately, we have to conclude that Jumbo-Visma is now the team we were a few years ago. They dominate and we are found wanting.”
Lefevere continued, speaking to Het Nieuwsblad: “Bad luck? Ballerini was up front as they pulled away on the Côte de Trieu but fell away, as did Florian Sénéchal. Yes, Yves Lampaert was behind the crash, but to be clear: it didn't happen at the front. That is the difference: we used to race at the front and then you're not behind a crash. We once rode away in Harelbeke with almost the entire team because the rest fell behind us. Now our riders are all scattered.”
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Dylan Van Baarle won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday with a long-range solo attack with Davide Ballerini placing 6th, the only Soudal-QuickStep rider to finish in the top 50 on the day. At Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne (1.Pro) on Sunday, Jumbo Visma had riders 1st, 2nd and 6th; Tiesj Benoot, Nathan Van Hooydonck and Christophe Laporte. Fabio Jakobsen was best for Soudal-QuickStep, taking 9th place, the only rider from the team in the top 30.
Lefevere said his riders let themselves become "overwhelmed" by Jumbo Visa, though he accepted the Dutch team was exceptionally strong at present. However, he also pointed out his team went into the weekend of racing after an altitude camp, which was the first time they had done that, and were capable of riding much better.
“We also have guys who can drive like Benoot," he said. "If Nathan Van Hooydonck gets into the leading group (in KBK), four of us can also be there. But that didn't happen. I have the impression we want to race defensively, that we don't want to take the bull by the horns. We are not used to that.”
However, he concluded by saying the team had already won 10 races and it was a long season so he had to be patient.
