“Roubaix is a special race” – Luke Lamperti eyes classics breakthrough with Soudal – Quick-Step

Luke Lamperti is gearing up for his delayed start to the 2025 season after a knee injury forced him to postpone his European campaign. The 22-year-old Californian, racing for Soudal – Quick-Step, is eager to get back to competing in the spring classics, but acknowledges that the injury set him back.

“I’ve been in Girona a few weeks now,” Lamperti told Velo. “It’s a later start to my season than normal. The plan was to be back in Europe in January, but I had a small issue with my knee. It pushed my season back a bit, and I couldn’t start training properly until January. I feel I’m ready to race, and I’ll be ready for all the most important races at the spring classics.”

The issue was related to his IT band, a problem that, if not carefully treated, can become serious for a cyclist.

“Knees are tricky,” he explained. “Unlike a broken bone where you know the timeline, knee injuries can be unpredictable. It can be an issue at the front, at the back, at the side. You do thousands of pedal strokes per ride, and if something is off, it can get worse real fast. We didn’t want to push through it and risk the whole season.”

With the injury behind him, Lamperti will begin his European season at Danilith Nokere Koerse, before moving on to the Bredene Koksijde Classic (March 21) and Classic Brugge-De Panne (March 26). His role this spring will be a balance between supporting Soudal – Quick-Step’s top sprinters, Tim Merlier and Paul Magnier, while also taking his own chances when they arise.

“We’ll have to see how I am going after a different winter. I’m jumping in without many races in the legs, so we’ll see where I can take any opportunities when they’re there,” he said. “When Merlier is there, we’ll all be working for him because the team always wants to win. We also have Magnier going well in sprints. So in some other races when I have a chance to take it I will, but I am always there to support the team. These races can go 1000 different ways.”

The classics are a cornerstone of Soudal – Quick-Step’s DNA, and despite the team shifting more focus toward stage racing with Remco Evenepoel, Lamperti knows that winning in Belgium remains a key priority.

“The classics are part of the DNA of this team. All the directors care about it, the sponsors love it, the riders love racing them,” he said. “They’re massive, and even with the focus on Remco and stage racing, the team still puts a lot of emphasis on the classics. We probably don’t have the same classics team they had five or six years ago, but the team will still be good. We have guys like Lampaert, Merlier, big winners. The ‘Wolfpack’ always wants to succeed in the classics.”

One race he has his sights set on is Paris-Roubaix, a legendary event he hasn’t raced since his junior days.

“It’s a race that I love, and I haven’t done it since I was a junior,” he said. “Roubaix is a special race. Everyone goes to the start line with hope. You can come out of a break and survive. You can come out of the back and have a good day. A race like Flanders is a lot harder to follow the big guys like Van der Poel and Pogacar. At Roubaix, you can have the day of your life, or it can all go to shit.”

Last season, Lamperti quickly established himself at the pro level, showing remarkable consistency in the classics. A top-10 finish at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in his first full classics campaign caught the attention of many, proving that he had the ability to compete with the best.

“I was really happy to be quite consistent last year. I was always there, so now it’s about converting that into results, to go from the top 10 to being on the podium, and convert a few of those into wins when I have the opportunity,” he said. “It’s a big reach to say I can go podium in a race like Roubaix, but if I can convert my results from last year into podiums and hopefully a few wins throughout the whole season, that’s where I would like to make a step up this season.”

Despite his rapid rise, Lamperti insists he never felt overwhelmed by the level of competition in the WorldTour. His Grand Tour debut at the Giro d’Italia last year was a key learning experience, giving him the opportunity to share a team with Julian Alaphilippe.

“It was really cool to do my first Grand Tour,” he said. “I roomed with Alaphilippe for three weeks and learned so much just being around him. He’s such a legend. It was such a successful Giro for the team. We won three stages with Tim, Alaphilippe was flying and he won a stage. We hit top-10 with Jan Hirt. I came out of the Giro feeling stronger.”

While Lamperti is not a pure sprinter like Tim Merlier, he sees himself as a rider who can win from reduced groups.

“I don’t see myself as a pure sprinter like Merlier. For me, it’s more about surviving in smaller groups and being the fastest guy there. I won’t be doing the sprints in the Grand Tours,” he explained. “I can win maybe when there are 40 guys left, and I can be the fastest in that group. And I think over the next three to five years, I’ll keep evolving in that direction.”

Rather than setting specific targets, Lamperti is focusing on steady progress.

“I don’t have a specific race or goal. It’s more about growing and improving and building on that consistency,” he said. “I want to help the team and try to take advantage of any opportunities I can get. If I can do that, we can go from there and see what happens. My season is changed a little bit by starting later, but I’m excited to be racing again.”

His ability to consistently perform at a high level was evident last year when he snagged a stage victory at the Czech Tour.

“Getting a win last year was big,” he said. “No matter what the race, it’s hard to win at this level, so to win and to be consistent across the entire season was huge.”