Julian Alaphilippe will leave Soudal - Quick-Step: "But if he chooses with his heart, then I think he will stay with us" Lefevere says
Cycling
For a few years already the tension was noticeable and a departure expected. Julian Alaphilippe and Soudal - Quick-Step will go their separate ways at the end of the 2024 season most likely as Patrick Lefevere tells that the Frenchman surely has more profitable offers lined up for the upcoming seasons.
"I love Julian. I don't want to pay him more than I already have. I suspect that his manager has big offers from TotalEnergies and I think Tudor too. I would understand if he chooses the money. But if he chooses with his heart, then I think he will stay with us," Patrick Lefevere said in his weekly column to Het Nieuwsblad.
The Frenchman has over the past two years been the target of several public criticism from Lefevere himself. The manager of the Belgian team is very keen on the Frenchman but is above all a business man who takes care of the team in the best way possible and was frustrated over the lack of results and the high salary. Alaphilippe was the winner of the 2020 and 2021 World Championships, but in 2022 he had an injury and illness-ridden season. He hasn't been able to compete directly with the very best in the classics ever again, but a very popular win at this year's Giro d'Italia seemed to bring to light his quality and what he gives to the team.
However with his contract running out and other teams interested to match or even increase his salary when comparing to his current - as well as more leadership, likely, because Quick-Step increasingly focuses on Remco Evenepoel's ambitions - the Frenchman will likely depart. Q36.5 had been rumoured to make a 3-million salary offer to him which he passed on but Lefevere suspects other ProTeams are actively seeking to sign him.
Recently, the Frenchman won at the Tour of Slovakia and Czech Tour and put on a strong ride at the Olympic Games to finish 11th, but he will likely not continue to pursue his goals with the team from next season onwards. “Julian Alaphilippe called me himself this week to let me know he was leaving. He had been awake at night and had been sick for weeks, but he told me he would be leaving the team.”
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