"Please don’t call me" - Patrick Lefevere shares statement after Remco Evenepoel's departure from Quick-Step

The news have been confirmed: Remco Evenepoel will leave Soudal - Quick-Step and join Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe from the 2026 season onwards. This is a move that has been in the making for a very long time and one that carries huge ramifications. Patrick Lefevere has for the past few hours certainly been swarmed with phone calls and has already issued a statement.

This was to be expected, since Lefevere has been the manager of Quick-Step for many years and until the end of the 2024 season. He was the man to had the biggest say in signing Evenepoel at a very young age, and guiding the team that has seen him turn into an international superstar.

With that came many obstacles and several of those came from the immense expectations that were put on him since a very young age. But Evenepoel was always Lefevere's headliner and protected figure within the team, with very good reason. The team also completely changed it's structure to be better suited to the Olympic Champion, and to convince him to stay for as long as possible.

But as his objectives grown in the field of the Grand Tours so did the requirements and Quick-Step struggled to live to the expectations of a potential Tour de France-winning team. Most likely this is the main reason for the departure as the 25-year old looks to build on his 2022 Vuelta a España victory and capture more Grand Tours.

The team has changed CEO this winter and Jurgen Foré became the team's head, with some rumours indicating that there hasn't been a perfect relationship between the two this year. It is possible that Lefevere's departure from an official role has made Evenepoel's position in the team less secure, and so today it has been announced that his contract running until 2026 will be broken.

Lefevere, likely due to the extended amount of requests for comment, has written a message on X - formerly known as Twitter - stating that he will not share his opinions on the matter. "Since I stepped down as CEO of Soudal Quick-Step, I’m no longer involved in transfers or any team matters. Agreement-wise, I’m also not allowed to communicate about transfers — not even about Remco. Please don’t call me. This is the only communication I will make".