Cyrille Guimard on Soudal Quick-Step's modest results - "Lefevere must not be feeling very well, But today this team is no longer scary"

Cyrille Guimard, former coach of the French team, has weighed in on the matter of the Soudal Quick-Step team's decline in performance relative to the Jumbo Visma team, which has recently taken control of several spring classics previously dominated by the Belgian team.

“The Jumbo-Visma team, on these Flandrian Classics, is a notch above. The Soudal-Quick Step team is a little behind,” he told Cyclism'Actu. “They have progressed, now mastering these races perfectly, with the riders who have the talent to do so. And behind this comes a loss of confidence, to the point of making strategic errors, of finding oneself trapped, of missing the right moves.”

One man's loss is another man's gain, and this idiom perfectly fits the case of the two teams. “As they are a notch below the others, confidence goes away, even Lefevere must not be feeling very well. But it is logical, today this team is no longer scary.”

Although Remco Evenepoel is helping to keep the team's score balanced, Julian Alaphilippe's difficulty achieving even a top-ten finish is impacting the team's overall performance. “The team itself is inferior compared to the opponents. Everyone walks 1% less, and that changes the whole face of this team which dominated in joy, in good humour, with a super strong collective,” concluded Guimard.