"It hurts when you lose someone like that" - Soudal - Quick-Step scout who signed Alaphilippe and Magnier reveals the rider who got away

Soudal – Quick-Step’s top scout Johan Molly has built a reputation for discovering some of the brightest talents in cycling, having played a crucial role in securing Julian Alaphilippe and Paul Magnier for the team. However, in a recent episode of De Koffiestop, he opened up about one that got away: Antoine Salamin, a 17-year-old Swiss rider now part of Visma’s development setup.

Molly has seen firsthand how the landscape of talent scouting has shifted, with young riders being approached by management agencies at an increasingly early age, much like in football. The battle to sign the best young cyclists has never been more competitive, and Molly admits that agents and financial promises have made his job much harder.

"There have never been so many scouts from management agencies on the races. There are boys of 16 who already have a manager. They then drive them crazy by saying that they can already earn 200,000 euros through them as a junior. And I have to compete with that as a scout," he explained to Sporza at the back end of 2024.

The competition for Salamin was particularly intense. Molly was first tipped off about the young Swiss talent by Laurent Dufaux, the former Dauphiné winner who now manages a Swiss development team where Salamin’s brother also rides. Dufaux’s description of the youngster immediately caught Molly’s attention.

"Last year I had a special case. I was tipped off by Laurent Dufaux from Switzerland," Molly recalled. "He sent me: 'We have the new Fabian Cancellara.' I got the phone number and called his dad. After that, it was like: can we have another chat with a team manager next week? Another video call."

From that moment, what should have been a straightforward recruitment process became an exhaustive pursuit, filled with multiple rounds of discussions.

"I was on five video calls and hadn't spoken to the rider himself. Then they asked if they could send an email with a few questions. Questions like: how are you going to run the junior team? What are you going to do with the budget, and how big is the budget? It was like an exam for me."

Despite the bureaucratic hurdles, Molly eventually met Salamin in person.

"Dad and son drove over the border from France in the camper for an hour and a half. He started talking about a contract, but I couldn't give it to him. There were seven other WorldTour teams that wanted him."

At that point, the reality of modern talent scouting became clear. Even for a team like Soudal – Quick-Step, which has developed some of the biggest stars in cycling and right now has Remco Evenepoel leading the team, there are no guarantees when it comes to securing young talents.

Molly’s pursuit of Salamin came to an abrupt and frustrating end when he was forced to detour on his way back from Switzerland.

"When I was leaving Switzerland, a team manager from the Baby Giro called to say that the Mont Blanc tunnel was closed. I was a few kilometers away, but had to make a complete detour."

By the time the situation settled, Salamin had already committed to Visma.

"The result was that two weeks later, I received a message that he would not be joining us, but that he would be going to Visma. That kind of thing hurts. In the Chrono des Nations, I saw him as a sixteen-year-old boy riding an average of 46 kilometres per hour on a regular bike. It hurts when you lose someone like that."

Molly’s disappointment is understandable. Salamin is clearly a rider of immense potential, and seeing him develop under a rival team’s setup is a tough pill to swallow. However, this is the nature of modern talent scouting, a world where young riders are increasingly aware of their value, and where teams must fight harder than ever to secure the next big star.

For Soudal – Quick-Step, missing out on one talented prospect does not spell disaster, but it does highlight how cutthroat the battle for emerging talent has become. With agents, big contracts, and competing interests shaping the future of young cyclists, teams can no longer rely solely on their history and reputation, they must continuously adapt to the evolving landscape of rider recruitment.