All images: Katy Madgwick, unless stated otherwise
No longer a Classics team
Throughout their history, Soudal Quick-Step have mainly shone in the Classics, especially those in Flanders. Thanks to riders such as Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert, they claimed victory in some of the biggest one-day races in the world, including the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. However, in the past few years, Patrick Lefevre’s team has begun to renew itself, improving a lot in the general classifications and moving away from their favourite terrain.
The 2024 season was a perfect example of this change. The team managed to win 13 times at World Tour level but none of these victories happened at a one-day race. The great man for the Belgian team last year was Remco Evenepoel, who had an incredible season at only 24 years old. The former World champion managed to bring home another rainbow jersey in the time trial but also two Olympic gold medals, writing his name in the history books. The Belgian also finished third at the Tour de France and second at Il Lombardia and Paris-Nice, concluding his season in second place of the UCI classification.
Alongside him, the Spaniard Mikel Landa also finished in the top 5 at the Tour de France while Ilan Van Wilder showed himself in races such as the UAE Tour and the Tour de Romandie. In the sprint area, Tim Merlier was one of the fastest in the World last season, raising his arms 16 times in total, including three times during the Giro d'Italia but also at the European Championships. The Belgian should have competition from the young Paul Magnier in the future, as the Frenchman scored five successes in his first year at the professional level. In addition to these results, some great performances like that of Julian Alaphilippe at the San Sebastian Klasikoa (2nd) or Jan Hirt at the Giro (8th) allowed Soudal Quick-Step to finish in third place on the UCI ranking, only behind the two giants UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike.
Significant losses
The 2024-2025 inter-season proved that Soudal Quick-Step is in a renewal phase, turning away from the Classics. Indeed, among the five departures that the Belgian team suffered this winter, two of them are former Monument winners. First of all, the former World champion Julian Alaphilippe decided to leave his forever team to join Tudor Pro Cycling. The former winner of Milano-Sanremo had joined the team in 2014, spending eleven amazing seasons with the Quick-Step structure. Another important loss for the Belgian team is Kasper Asgreen, who also already triumphed in a Monument with his victory at the 2021 Ronde van Vlaanderen.
To replace these departing riders, the team of Jurgen Foré, who took the lead of the team after the retirement of Patrick Lefevre, has made interesting choices, for every kind of race. One of the most important men of this transfer window for Soudal Quick-Step is Ethan Hayter. At 26 years old, the British champion has had difficulties in the past two seasons and will hope to overcome them with his new team. The native of London is an extremely good all-rounder, able to perform on hills but also during ITTs and bunch sprints. These abilities allowed him to add the Tour of Poland to his trophy cabinet in 2022, as well as a few World Tour stages during the Tour de Romandie and Itzulia Basque Country.
Another complete rider who will try to give a new boost to his career with a move to Soudal Quick-Step is Maximilian Schachmann. At 31 years old, the German rider has proved in the past to have some amazing qualities when the road rises, especially on short climbs. The former German champion is also an excellent time-trialist and he triumphed twice on the general classification of Paris-Nice. Schachmann already rode for Quick-Step, as he was part of the team at the beginning of his World Tour career from 2017 to 2018. This strong puncheur could be a key rider for his team during the Ardennes Classics, as he already scored a podium at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the past.
Along with these two riders, Soudal Quick-Step management team also chose to bet on Valentin Paret-Peintre, in order to replace Jan Hirt as a lieutenant for Remco Evenepoel and Mikel Landa. The Frenchman had a breakthrough season in 2024, that saw him winning a stage at the Giro but also finishing fourth at the Tour of the Alps. For the Classics, Dries Van Gestel and Pascal Eenkhoorn will try to replace the losses of Asgreen and Gianni Moscon, while the young Italians Gianmarco Garofoli and Andrea Raccagni Noviero could be revelations for the Belgian team.
Remco Evenepoel, among the greatest
In the past few years, Remco Evenepoel has established himself as one of the best riders in the peloton. The Belgian began to write his legend with amazing successes at La Vuelta and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in addition to both World Championship titles. At 25 years old, he already raised his arms 59 times during his career, often with crazy panache and is now considered as one of the headliners of the international peloton.
The 2024 season allowed the Belgian to confirm his status of one of the best riders in the world. Indeed, after winning the Volta ao Algarve and finishing Paris-Nice in second place, the former Belgian champion took on the Tour de France, where he finished third. During his first experience of the French Grand Tour, Evenepoel managed to win a stage and proved that he was the third man after the superhumans Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. Following the Tour, the native of Aalst wrote the history of road cycling by triumphing in both the ITT and the road race at the Olympics in Paris. Evenepoel ended his season in style with a second place at Il Lombardia, only a few weeks after retaining his ITT World Champion title.
This season, assuming he is able to recover from the crash which has prevented him from launching an early season campaign, Remco Evenepoel will once again aim for the Tour de France, with the objective of further challenging Pogačar and Vingegaard. Before that, if he is fit, the former Vuelta winner will return to the Ardennes Classics, that he had to skip last year due to a crash during the Itzulia Basque Country. It will be very interesting to see where Evenepoel stands compared to Pogačar at these races and if he will be able to challenge the Slovenian, potentially offering a spectacular show to spectators. The Belgian's great time-trialling qualities will also make him one of the favourites for the World Championships in this exercise but he could also perform in the road race, in order to become World Champion for the second time.
A very serious climbing squad
Over the past few years and with the development of Remco Evenepoel as one of the best climbers of the peloton, Soudal Quick-Step have turned into a very solid climbing team, an aspect that was neglected by the Belgian structure in the past.
One of the main men behind the Belgian leader is Mikel Landa. At 35 years old, the Basque rider is entering the final seasons of his career but proved in 2024 that he was still capable of performing very well when the road rises. Indeed, the native of Murgia finished in the top five at the Tour de France before concluding his national tour in 8th. This season, Landa will return to the Giro, a race that has already smiled on him in the past: he finished third twice, in 2022 and in 2015. After La Corsa Rosa, Landa should be the last teammate of Remco Evenepoel in the mountains before maybe trying to take on La Vuelta, in accordance with his wish to take part in the three Grand Tours in the same season.
Alongside Landa at the Giro, new recruit Valentin Paret-Peintre will try to help the Spaniard to finish as high as possible in the general classification. The former rider of Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale could be extremely important for Landa, as he was for Ben O’Connor at the Italian Grand Tour last season. In addition to these riders, Soudal Quick-Step has built a solid climbing group in the past few years. Ilan Van Wilder finished fourth at the UAE Tour and at the Tour de Romandie last season and will also be a name to watch on the highest summits. Finally, riders such as Mattia Cattaneo, Louis Vervaeke and Mauri Vansevenant should be of great help for their leaders while the young William Lecerf will try to continue his progression.
Tim Merlier, one of the fastest in the world
If Remco Evenepoel is the main leader for Soudal Quick-Step, his countryman Tim Merlier is also a key piece of the Belgian team's puzzle. Indeed, the Belgian sprinter is one of the fastest men in the world, as proven by his sixteen successes last season. The most significant of these was arguably the European title, but three wins during the Giro really established Merlier as one of the quickest men of the year. The 32-year-old is also able to shine on the Flanders Classics, as shown by his top 8 during Gent-Wevelgem but also his second place at Brugge-De Panne last season.
Since joining Soudal Quick-Step in 2023, Merlier has not yet had the chance to take on the Tour de France for his new team. The biggest race in the world will be his main objective of 2025, with the aim of winning at least one stage, as he did in 2021 during his only previous participation in the race. After beginning the season in Saudi Arabia, raising his arms twice at the AlUla Tour, the European champion will continue with Middle-Eastern races at the UAE Tour, a race where he already won five times in the last two seasons. With his lead-out man and friend Bert Van Lerberghe, Tim Merlier will have at heart the aim of proving in 2025 that he is one of the best sprinters in the world, if not the best.
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