Patrick Lefevere, boss of World World team QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl, has suggested a significant element of Remco Evenepoel's contract - signed while he was injured in 2021 and before he had broken through to the very top tier of cycling - involves "lots of bonuses".
While full of praise for his young Belgian star, he seemed to be losing his patience with Julian Alaphilippe, saying he was on a very large salary but had not won anything for some time. He conceded while the former world champion had been unlucky, it was "always the same" riders who have bad luck.
“I want him to recover. He owes me revenge," Lefevere told La Dernière Heure of Alaphilippe, who crashed badly in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, missing two months of racing, before later crashing out of La Vuelta.
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"Julian has a champion's salary, but he must confirm that he still is a champion. That he is no longer world champion, I don't care, but in recent years he hasn't won much. Yes, he had a lot of bad luck, but it's always the same ones who are lucky and the same ones who have bad luck…”
While Alaphilippe's awful season set it at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Evenepoel's star went into orbit the same day. He won the race with a long-range attack and while he was already successful, that victory was by far his biggest.
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He has since gone on to win La Vuelta and the world title. In 2020 he suffered a very bad crash in Il Lombardia and while he was out injured, in the spring of 2021, he signed a five-year extension to his contract.
Lefevere is notoriously tight with money and has now strongly hinted Evenepoel's contract - which has not been enhanced since his Vuelta and Worlds wins - has a large salary component, though he has turned down recent approaches from Ineos Grenadiers.
“If he had gone, I would have been the richest in the pack, but I'm very glad he didn't,” Lefevere said of the possibility of Evenepoel going to Ineos Grenadiers a few months ago. He added his contract involved “lots of bonuses and bonuses".
While all riders have a bonus component to their salary, Lefevere appeared to suggest bonuses were a big part of Evenepoel's remuneration. The veteran cycling boss also said his team would stick to the plan of sending Evenepoel to the Giro next year - which is now confirmer - before taking on the Tour de France, at some stage after next season.
"He's a winner but probably won’t be nice when he has a bad day," Lefevere said. "But I have no doubt that he can handle that. Remco is calm, serene and down to earth. But he is a winner. Remco thinks of nothing but winning. It drives him on.
“He remains humble, but who says what he wants and feels. What is beautiful is that he always thanks his team a lot. It helps guys get down on their stomachs for him.”
