"Could I have contributed to the team? You have to ask them" - Tom Boonen didn't discard return to cycling via management role at Quick-Step

Tom Boonen is a legend in cycling and he is one of the men that has marked the history of Soudal - Quick-Step the most. Besides the World titles and the success in races such as the Tour de France, the Belgian has won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix several times. He could've been part of the team's 2026 rebranding as a classics-focused team, but he didn't get a call from the team.

"Have negotiations already started? No, absolutely not," Boonen said on Wielerclub Wattage. "No, there haven't been any conversations. I've never applied for a position myself, you know. During a newspaper interview, I was asked if I'd be interested in returning, as the team is taking on a new identity again."

The veteran keeps it ambiguous on whether he would like to make a return or not, but he is clear: "The team has acquired equipment with which they can challenge the top riders in the classics. So if there had ever been a time when I wanted to do something at Soudal-Quick-Step, it would have been now".

It is not unusual to see long-standing figures of the sport continue in the world of cycling via management roles, specially in the modern peloton where the average age is lowering further and further, and the need for experienced figures in the team becomes more crucial. Geraint Thomas is a good example of the transition several are taking on currently, moving from rider to Director of Racing with immediate effect with INEOS Grenadiers.

In Quick-Step's case, the past few years have been centered around Remco Evenepoel. Tom Boonen himself was at the team's pre-Tour de France event and continues to be attached to it in some way. But in a management position with the Belgian team? That would largely depend on the interest of team CEO Jurgen Foré. "Could I have contributed to the team? You have to ask them. But I never applied for a position myself," he concluded.