Patrick Lefevere, the team boss at Soudal-QuickStep, has described Remco Evenepoel as a "new phenomenon", who had won a Grand Tour much quicker than he expected. Lefevere added Evenepoel's advancement in pro cycling was so rapid he believed he had "misjudged" offering Julian Alaphilippe and Kasper Asgreen three-year contract extensions as he needed different riders now around Evenepoel.
Lefevere explained the original plan to develop Evenepoel, after he won the junior Worlds road race and TT in Yorkshire in 2018, was to take it more slowly. However, that plan was soon fast-tracked because Team Sky, now Ineos Grenadiers, was offering him a very large sum of money to turn pro with them from the start of 2019.
Lefevere had planned to put the young rider, then aged just 18 years, with Axel Merckx's Hagens Berman Axeon for 2019 to allow him develop rather than jumping from the junior ranks into a World Tour team and into the biggest pro races. But Lefevere said he had to sign up Evenepoel to his World Tour team because Team Sky offered him a salary six times more than he would have been earning in 2019 under his original plan.
Advertisement
"As a neo-pro, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) earned more than Remco," Lefevere told Het Nieuwsblad. "The intention was to place him in Axel Merckx's training team for a year, until Ineos (then Team Sky) started to lash out with the sledgehammer. He could earn six times more there in one go. Literally six times more. Together with his parents, we signed a contract as a neo-pro after all, without bonuses - not even for his victories in the Baloise Belgium Tour and the Clasica San Sebastian.”
The move straight into the Deceuninck-Quick Step World Tour team didn't exactly do Evenepoel any harm as he won five races in 2019 - nine if the now defunct team-based 'Hammer Series' is included. Among those wins was the European TT title, while he also took TT silver at the Worlds behind Australia's Rohan Dennis.
Lefevere also have to fight off Ineos Grenadiers last year when media reports suggest the British team was making a serious bid for the rider.
Related News
Given Evenepoel had won La Vuelta last season, much sooner than expected, Lefevere said some of the contracts he was now tied into were "misjudged". He explained he needed climbers around Evenepoel to try and win the Tour de France in the next few years, and that Alaphilippe's contract in particular was expensive.
"If Remco goes for the Tour, we need good climbers. Agents know that, so they have been presenting their climbing profiles now – actually since December. I'm not going to name names, but rider X, who I know is worth €500,000, is now being offered for €650,000, because I can't do without climbers, so to speak. That's the exercise I'm facing: do I proceed with them or not?"
However, Lefevere said he did not want to be negative about Asgreen - offered three more years after winning Tour of Flanders and E3 Classic in 2021 - or Alaphilippe - also extended for three years in 2021 after winning his second world title in two years, taking a stage win and the yellow jersey at the Tour and winning La Flèche Wallonne.
Lefevere also pushed back when Het Nieuwsblad said some people found it strange that Tim Merlier was the team's big signing for this year as he was a sprinter and therefore could not help Evenepoel win the Tour de France.
“That is all said too easily," he replied. "At the time we recruited Tim, we didn't know that Remco would win the Vuelta. And how many days does Remco race in a season, 65? What do you do on those 210 remaining race days?”
Lefevere added he was not worried about Evenepoel being dropped by the best climbers at Vuelta a San Juan Internacional in Argentina last month. He did not believe it was anything to do with the pressure of riding in the world champion's jersey. Instead, the team knew Evenepoel would not win there because he was still about 3kg over his ideal racing weight.
