"Classic story of the domino" - Paul Magnier and Soudal-Quickstep exude confidence after Giro d'Italia breakthrough

Soudal-Quickstep see Paul Magnier's Giro d'Italia breakthrough as a breath of fresh air as they look ahead to a potential third stage win in Rome and future grand tours. After the 22-year-old won his first grand tour stage and second in a successful first week, team manager Tom Steels knows the future is bright.

The French sprinter enjoyed a successful tail end to 2025, taking 15 wins from August until the end of the season. The Belgian team knew that Magnier's potential was beginning to come to the boil and opted to back in behind Magnier at the Giro d'Italia despite the 2025 edition proving a disappointment for the young star.

Dries Van Gestel, Jasper Stuyven and Fabio Van den Bossche were brought in to form a leadout for the fast man, and he delivered right from the first day as he out-sprinted Jonathan Milan and Dylan Groenewegen among others in a competitive sprint field.

Steels thinks that the boost was needed for Magnier after a Sierra Nevada training camp pre Giro and he gained confidence due to the team's show of confidence in providing a leadout train.

“The altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada provided a breath of fresh air for him afterwards. Paul got the boost he needed there,” team manager Tom Steels told Wielerflits. “Paul also gained the confidence that we would send a strong sprint train with Jasper Stuyven , Fabio Van den Bossche , and his regular lead-out Dries Van Gestel to the Giro with him. That did him good, and he struck gold on day one.”

Now that the first Grand Tour stage win has been ticked off, the Belgian team want more. However, with sprinting often coming down to confidence, they're focused on the little things to give the best chance for things to come together.

He said: “For both himself and the team. Winning stages in Grand Tours is one of the ambitions we wanted to pursue with him. To achieve that, things always have to fall right at least once. The classic story of the domino. Once that has fallen, you get into the flow and the rest follows naturally.”

Magnier is confident and riding with a greater deal of experience than before. Now, Steels insists it's about picking the right races to ensure he can be competitive as much as possible.

“When you see him sprinting now, he exudes a great deal of confidence and skill. He can position himself better than ever,” Steels added. “You can tell that he has more experience than in last year’s Giro. He rode mountain bikes for a long time during his youth, and in his early professional years, you often noticed that he still lacked some feel for the road. He wasn't at his peak during the first half of last year, but afterwards, with his many sprint victories at a lower level, you could see that the breakthrough wouldn't be long in coming.”

"The most important thing is to keep the fun and enjoyment in it for Paul,” Steels said. “The fact that he can now do it in the Grand Tours will give him a lot of confidence. It will now be a matter of picking the right races, maintaining the right flow in that way, so that Paul can keep winning. We will put races on his schedule where he can go for the win.”

Naturally, debate has sparked that Magnier can rival the team's primary sprinter Tim Merlier and even compete at the Tour de France - potentially alongside the veteran Belgian. Steels cooled any indication that he'll ride the 2026 Tour de France, but as Magnier will be lined up for Autumn goals before a Tour de France becomes a firm possibility.

He added: "But in the future, Paul also has the capabilities to excel there. If the course allows it, they could even go to the Tour together someday. For now, I’m thinking more of races like the GP of Plouay in the autumn. He needs to be able to let loose there."