"She is Tadej Pogacar's girlfriend, but she doesn't act like it at all" - Patrick Lefevere shares tale of first meeting with Urska Zigart
Cycling
Patrick Lefevere may have taken a step back from his duties at Soudal - Quick-Step at the end of 2024. The Belgian continues to prove a notable figure in the cycling world though, raising a few eyebrows in his latest column for Het Nieuwsblad.
Lefevere notes how since retirement, his wife has been keen to keep him out of the house! "They're installing a new bathroom at our place," he explains. "I spent a few days in the UAE Tour with our women's team, right in the echelon stages. That was fun. I got to know Kim Le Court Pienaar, who came third in the final classification."
It wasn't only Kim Le Court Pienaar who was introduced to Lefevere. Also noted is a first meeting with one of AG Insurance - Soudal's newest signings, four-time Slovenian national champion Urska Zigart from the recent women's UAE Tour. "I gave Urska Zigart advice about echelon riding. After the race she came to me: 'Patrick, you saved my life!'" recalls Lefevere. "She is Pogacar's girlfriend, but she doesn't act like it at all. Although she apparently feels that pressure herself when racing."
As seen by his trip to the UAE recently, Lefevere's retirement doesn't neccesarily mean a complete cut back from his duties with the Soudal - Quick-Step and AG Insurance Soudal teams. "I am still on the Board of Advisors, which meets four times a year. In the women's team, I sit on a full-fledged Board of Directors together with Jolien D'hoore, Jurgen Foré and Rob Maes and Jan Heyvaert from AG Insurance," he concludes. "Since the announcement of my departure, I have been to the office in Wevelgem twice in total. I am allowed to keep my desk there, but I recently received a phone call from Geert Coeman asking if they could use it for certain meetings. I will go by soon to really clear my desk."
how does this "raise eyebrows"? it is generally a complimentary thing to say - she is not full of herself.
I think they were hoping people would read it hoping the phrase was some dirty washing being washed in public ;-)
yeah typical clickbait crap. it worked, it drew me in LOL and I even commented on it
Nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately there are certain people in this world, no matter what you think of them or what they say, it’s best to stay aware a minimum as they tend to create contentious topics of discussion and if you don’t kill misinterpretations early they often become “truths”.
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- Great picture, so alike and yet so different, Mads has the physique of a weekend amateur in comparison. You have to wonder how much better he could still be. I know it’s difficult not to be taken in by MVDP’s performances but it feels like reporting loses some of its purpose as a result, compared to other teams, we hardly hear about the Alpecin in-race work or riders.Mistermaumau30-03-2025
- agreed. flanders is a beast. i like tadej, but i’m full on rooting for mathieu next sunday.OCexile29-03-2025
- Indeed, strong as ever on the flat, maybe stronger on climbs. There are very few records within reach for contemporary riders (Cabendish had to extend his career to get his and took twice as long as Merckx to equality), this would be one that would be very hard to take away.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- I thought newspeak was condensing any statement into the smallest number of pertinent words.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- flanders is mvdp’s favorite race and he’s one win away from being the lone record holder with 4 wins. i’d be very surprised if the gap that pogačar opened in him there 2 years ago wasn’t THE major focus of all his training. and when mathieu has a goal, he turns himself inside out to achieve it. we’ll see next week if he got there, but i’d agree with van avermat’s assessment of van der poel’s fitness.OCexile29-03-2025
- It’s almost like newspeak. It’s classics season, Pogacar’s main rival has always been van der Poel. Then grand tour season will begin, and we will pivot mid sentence and Pogacar’s main rival will have always been Vingegaard. What a season this promises to be. Let’s hope they stay healthy (and Vingegaard gets past the concussion).RidesHills29-03-2025
- Great that he’s decided to do Flanders though his weight remark is irrelevant, Mads is proportionately heavier and MVDP has the same weight but is around 10cm shorter.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- Yeah, looks slow up there.Jumpyjohn28-03-2025
- lol His aim was well off! MVP was well past him before the guy decided to spit.Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025
- But you know that’s what makes this website live ;-)Mistermaumau28-03-2025