Soudal - Quick-Step's climbing talent evaluates debut season in WorldTour: "Everything went so well – better than I could have hoped for"

William Junior Lecerf has only entered the WorldTour ranks ahead of 2024 with Soudal - Quick-Step, but he immediately made a name for himself with a second place at the AlUla Tour. Afterwards, the 22-year-old Belgian continued in a strong fashion which led to a debut Grand Tour nomination for Vuelta.

In an interview for his team, he relives the past year, starting off with the race in Saud Arabia at the end of January: "In my opinion, it was my best race so far. I worked hard all winter to be in shape for the first race, and I really wanted to prove something. I surprised myself, because I was hoping to make a top 10 or something like that, but managing to almost win the general classification was a very good performance," he explains, before analyzing his first Grand Tour.

"At the beginning of the season I always said that I would really like to be at the start of a Grand Tour, but the team couldn't guarantee it. So I was really motivated to give my best and prove to them that I was ready and had the level required. I was happy to be chosen for La Vuelta, because I think it's the one that suits me best. Of course, at the beginning I wondered how it would go, because I had never done a Grand Tour. I'm still young, so you don't know how the body will react, but I was really surprised that everything went so well – better than I could have hoped for. "

Finally, he takes stock of his year and discusses his goals for next year: "The biggest thing I learned this year is that my body reacts well in the Grand Tours. I think that's important for the future, because I still felt pretty good in the second and third week. It's important that my body is not exhausted after one week. It was also essential for me to get some results already, because I want to continue, aim for victory in the races where I think it's possible, and build from there. And in the big races, help the team with Remco to win as much as possible."