"Paul did sprints against Tim Merlier and he beat him two or three times" - Patrick Lefevere impressed by new signing Paul Magnier

After taking his maiden victory at the Trofeo Ses Salines-Felanitx in his first race for Soudal–Quick-Step, Paul Magnier received high praise from the team’s general manager Patrick Lefevere. In an interview with GCN, he said that “it’s a good win for the early season, absolutely. We only take the best riders and we don’t spend as much as some teams, but we work simply with our scouting and we’ve had long-term contact with Paul Magnier. You can see that he’s a good kid and a good athlete”.

Magnier and his leadout man Luke Lamperti are among seven new U23 riders to have joined the team ahead of this season, with both of them signing from Trinity Racing. Whilst many were aware of their talent, few would have touted them for the victory, with Lefevere saying that “it proves that they trained well in Calpe, and it’s always surprising when kids win at their first race, but I saw this morning a photo from Luke with Paul celebrating their first start and then they win. It’s very pleasing”.

However, none of this seems to have come as a massive shock to Lefevere, as he revealed that “during the camp, Paul did sprints against Tim Merlier and he beat him two or three times. Okay, it’s only training but they were sprinting really seriously and that was a good sign”. Having already shown that he has good early season form, Magnier will look to build upon his maiden win at the remaining Challenge Mallorca races before heading to the Middle East for the Tour of Oman in February, where he will once again be able to display his sprinting talent.