Patrick Lefevere's weekly column this week focused on the World Championships. As the boss of Soudal - Quick-Step and Remco Evenepoel, he has a lot in play for this Sunday's race, but he believes it's more open than most expect.
“My impression of the World Championship in Zurich so far: a tough course, but certainly not just for climbers. I base my opinion on what I have seen of the juniors and under-23's and so I speak in two words.," Lefevere wrote to Het Nieuwsblad. "With the pros you always have a different racing dynamic, but I do not agree with the idea that it is only Pogacar versus Evenepoel on Sunday. Mathieu van der Poel is definitely in the running, Mads Pedersen maybe too.”
In reality, if those two are, then dozen other riders will be in contention as well. This will very much be true as, being the world championships, there are plenty quality riders coming in and with great form too. This includes climbers, classics specialists and others... "The name I throw out the most: Marc Hirschi. Ask anyone who has ever sat on a racing bike: a Swiss excels in his own country. Look at promising Jan Christen, who would always have become world champion without Jarno Widar."
"Winning in your own country is a once in a lifetime for a Swiss. In Belgium there are five races in a week, in Switzerland five in a year." Hirschi does come as one of the main favourites after winning the Clásica San Sebastián, Bretagne Classic and comes in as one of the strongest puncheurs in the field.
But this is the World Championships and the dynamics are very different than the normal here. "You can't estimate anything at a World Championship: it is not a course that the peloton has ridden over in the past hundred years. Riders who wear the same jersey are normally allies, but certainly not always at a World Championships. My opinion about national teams is well-known: I don't like them at all. You sometimes put riders in impossible situations."
He explains what he means, understanding that trade team dynamics may get in the way of the national teams. “We have only five riders at the World Championships, but you don’t want to see Kasper Asgreen closing the gap on Julian Alaphilippe. Believe me when I say that Tim Wellens won’t suddenly forget along the way that he is a teammate of Tadej Pogacar 364 days a year. Which is the most normal thing in the world, by the way," he concluded.
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- This wouldn't make sense, he is close to retirement and doesn't have a spare year to feel out a new team.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- He should be in a different team. It was detrimental. For them it does not matter if he does not develop. He should have gone to a team where they need him to succeed.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- Technically it is "strictly forbidden to deviate from the lane they selected when launching into the sprint and, in so doing, endangering others". But: 1. Marie did not endangered anyone. 2. Above rule 2.3.036 is a Road Cycling rule not CX. 3. In Cyclocross we have only not well defined "irregular sprint" without description what would that mean. But even if you use 2.3.036 for CX it is still wrongly applied rule.averagecyclist10-11-2026
Loading
Happy Elite Men RR World Championships, everyone! 😍🌈 One of the most awaited days of this season: Tadej Pogacar targets his first Rainbow Jersey against multiple world champions Remco Evenepoel and Mathieu van der Poel and with it, the Triple Crown. Go Pogi! #Zurich2024
Write a comment