In recent weeks there was a lot to do about
Remco Evenepoel, who, according to rumors, might've been about to leave Soudal Quick-Step early. However, the time trial world champion intends to honour his contract with the Belgian WorldTeam. He confirmed that in the Lanterne Rouge podcast.
"I have a contract until the end of 2026. There is such a thing as respect. A contract is a contract," says Evenepoel. "You can't just say: bye, I'm going. That's not how it goes. The cycling world is not the football world, where you just give 200 million and get a rider or player. But if we improve a lot – in science, nutrition and things around the Grand Tour team – we can quickly be on the same level as teams like UAE Emirates and Jumbo-Visma. Moreover, we already have a lot of knowledge within the team."
Evenepoel does say it is important that the team is strengthened for next year. "It is always good to bring big names to the team, because then there will also be competition between the domestiques. They all take each other to the next level. I think we need that in our team. Sometimes some guys were too relaxed. They thought: surely we have a place in the classification team. That's why I'm happy that some riders are coming over, including one big name. I don't know if others will come, I hope so."
With that one big name, Evenepoel refers to
Mikel Landa. "I am very happy that he is coming. There were more names, big names. Also Sivakov and De Plus, yes. That didn't work out, so I was a bit disappointed at the time. You can go to war with those two. I thought we missed our chance."
"But Landa is a rider who knows how to win grand tours with his team. He is 33 years old now. That's not too old I guess. He is a good rider, who brings a lot of experience to a young team. I think this was the best move Patrick could have made this year. But I'd be lying if I said I don't hope there will be one more rider, one just below Landa's level. A rider who is somewhere between the level of Ilan, Vervaecke and Cattaneo. But it is difficult to find a rider of that category. They are expensive."
Evenepoel has no further wishes about his helpers for the flat. "We have Asgreen, Lampaert, ... I'm not worried at all in that area. Then it is only a matter of finding the balance between the strong climbers, the pure climbers and the real master craftsmen, the Sepp Kuss type. We hope that we have now found such a rider with Landa. I really believe he can. I feel his best years were when he was riding as a domestique, when he helped Froome."
