10/01/2024

Patrick Lefevere: "Winning is the best doping. It's good for the mind and everything"

The dark cloud that doping has left over the sport of professional cycling has been hard to shake off. Many fans of the sport are immediately suspicious anytime a rider puts in an incredible performance. Patrick Lefevere however, believes winning is the only form of doping for a rider.

"This might not be the best way to say it, but winning is the best doping. It's good for the mind and everything," says Lefevere, whose Soudal - Quick-Step team took 55 victories in 2023, in quotes collected from Cycling News. "I hope we win early and all season in 2024. Last year we won all season but also had a few disappointments, for example in the Giro d'Italia. COVID-19 was our enemy there. We were in the lead, and we could have won."

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"You have to invent yourself every few years, otherwise other teams pass you," continues the always outspoken team boss. "We've invested in riders and staff. We have young people, new ideas, young strategies. There was a need to renew things."

Although the team heads into 2024 full of optimism, for a while it looked as if the team wouldn't even be around much longer after rumours of a merger with the team now known as Team Visma | Lease a Bike. "It was painful for a period. This team has existed for over 20 years. We didn't want to disappear, but it all happened above us," Lefevere recalls. "You're stupid if you make the same mistakes. If you're intelligent, you turn the page. We won't forget what happened, but today is a new day. As I like to say, 'Today is the first day of the rest of my life'. I want to look ahead and win again with these guys."

Remco Evenepoel: "The answer to the question whether I can win a Grand Tour is yes"

As always with Soudal - Quick-Step in recent years, key to any success will be Remco Evenepoel. In 2024, the Belgian is set to make his much-anticipated Tour de France debut. What are Lefevere's hopes for the former Vuelta a Espana winner in France?

"If everything goes smooth, I'm convinced he can go on the podium. Knowing his character, he will not be happy with a podium, he'll want to win the time trial in the Tour de France and some stages," says Lefevere. "He has nothing to prove. It's better to be an outsider than the favourite, so let's be the outsider. It's always nice when the outsider wins."