"If not for his manager, he would have stayed": Quick-Step doctor brings forth reasons behind Remco Evenepoel's departure

Remco Evenepoel's departure from Soudal - Quick-Step last winter, ending a seven seasons long partnership was the main story of the most recent transfer window. The Belgian superstar still had one more year on his contract with the team which gave him a platform to enter WorldTour back in 2019, however Evenepoel opted to break his contract early to join Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe instead.

"We had to say goodbye to him, and that hurt most people," Soudal - Quick-Step's team doctor Yvan Vanmol explains in the podcast Stamcafé Koers.

The reason wasn't ultimately that Evenepoel did not enjoy his time at Quick-Step, but rather those around him saw better opportunities for Evenepoel elsewhere. "But when you have someone in the team for so long, but those around him say it's better to go to another team, then the story ends. It was unsustainable."

"Remco himself really enjoyed being with us. If his manager hadn't constantly exerted that pressure, he would have stayed," Vanmol highlights. "That manager is his father, Patrick. What I find worst is that his father constantly portrayed our team as second-rate, while that is absolutely not the case."

Patrick Evenepoel's many remarks have caused bad blood. "That hurt a lot and led to a number of people within the team saying that it is good that Remco has left. But as a person, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about him. He is a grateful and polite person."

Despite how Remco sometimes portrays himself as short-tempered in races, especially when things dont quite go his way, in person he's quite different. "His reactions are sometimes those of a footballer. In the peloton, that isn't always appropriate. But the fact that he speaks his mind and expresses his ambitions is something I think is really great. You shouldn't be falsely modest. Especially not with the list of achievements he has."