"Jumping out of a plane, they can do that as far as I’m concerned" - Patrick Lefevere on the do's and dont's for Quick-Step riders during the off-season

More and more, the top pro cyclists become big stars in the international stage and inbetween seasons, often we see pro riders take on some interesting hobbies. Some of them dangerous without a doubt, like skiing and motorbiking, two things that Patrick Lefevere warned against whilst leading Soudal - Quick-Step.

"It's dangerous, especially in the winter. They're young, they want to do something, but... I've never seen many good things with motorcycling," Lefevere argued on the Speed on Wheels podcast hosted by his former rider Niki Terprstra.

"I had a team manager, Wilfried Peeters, who once called me to say he'd broken his elbow. I asked: 'How did you do that?' He replied that he'd been mountain biking. I said: 'One with a motor on it, right?' It turned out he'd fallen in the woods with a dirt bike."

Thibau Nys for example had recently been skiing after the end of his cyclocross season and actually caused some worries throughout the pundit community. Lefevere sees the point in this however, fearing big injuries related to activities that are not related to cycling in the first place.

Skiing specially has really become his main refusal. “Dangerous sports, like skiing. I also watched TV again this week: fifteen people had to fly back because they had broken something. Especially now, when the weather is really good, the snow melts in the afternoon. Then it starts to freeze again. That makes it very dangerous.”

However, not everything was forbidden for his riders: “Jumping out of a plane, they can do that as far as I’m concerned. If the parachute doesn’t open, I’m done for,” he joked.