"Their pockets are still deeper than mine" - Patrick Lefevere reveals Soudal - Quick-Step attempted to sign Brandon McNulty and Matteo Jorgenson
Cycling
Brandon McNulty and Matteo Jorgenson are both starring currently at Paris-Nice, sitting pretty first and second in the general classification with just two stages to go.
The American duo currently ride for UAE Team Emirates and Team Visma | Lease a Bike respectively but had Soudal - Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere had his way, McNulty and Jorgenson could have been teammates. “It's ironic that McNulty and Jorgenson are now number one and two in the overall standings. Two riders whose sleeve I have pulled quite hard in recent years. That has to do with their talent that we identified early, but also with their nationality. Our bicycle manufacturer Specialized likes to see good Americans in our team," he says in his column for Het Nieuwsblad.
"UAE Team Emirates also made a proposal (for McNulty ed.). And their pockets are still deeper than mine,” the Belgian team loss laments. Jorgenson too came close to a Soudal - Quick-Step move. “We talked to him last year when he was still riding for Movistar. But I immediately felt that he already had his sights on Team Visma | Lease a Bike had set.”
After those feelers were pushed back, Lefevere switched focus to Lotto Dstny duo Lennert Van Eetvelt and Maxim Van Gils although he believes he knows the answer to why those two were also unsuccessful signing attempts.
“They must have pulled out the oldest trick in the book: 'At Soudal Quick-Step you will only have to work for Remco Evenepoel,'" Lefevere says, although he denies that would be true. "While Ilan Van Wilder proves that a hybrid role of half servant-half leader can be very interesting. That's also how we want to play Luke Lamperti Because we have really found our talented American. Luke is a promising classic rider and sprinter who I think can initially learn a lot as a lead-out from Tim Merlier. After that, he can become the American poster boy that Specialized has been waiting for for so long.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Brandon McNulty and Matteo Jorgenson as 15-year-olds on an early trip racing in Europe, 2014. Ten years later, they're 1-2 in Paris-Nice.
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