"We are very proud of our third place in the world" - Patrick Lefevere gives a rare bit of praise to all his riders after a successful season
Cycling
With the 2024 road season over, it's an opportunity to re-evaluate what went well and what quite as much. Team manager of Soudal - Quick-Step can look back at a great season, even though the Wolfpack's misery in spring classics seems to have no end.
Centered around Remco Evenepoel (winner of two Olympic Gold medals, World ITT Champion and 3rd overall at the Tour de France, among others), and sprinter Tim Merlier (winner of 15 professional races this year, including European road race Championships), the Belgian team landed on third spot in the UCI ranking, rounding off the podium far behind dominant UAE Team Emirates and surprsingly close to Visma | Lease a Bike.
All things considered, manager Patrick Lefevere seems to be in unusually cheerful mood recapitulating the 2024 campaign. Long gone are the days when Soudal - Quick-Step dominated classics with limitless firepower and kept winning sprints left and right with the best sprint trains in the world. For the latter part, Tim Merlier still knows his way around in the fast finals, but classics were put aside for a long-term project dubbed 'GC Remco', who along with Mikel Landa carried the Wolfpack's flag high in the biggest (stage) races in the world.
"We are very proud of our third place in the world," Lefevere said in his commentary on team page. "Over the years, we have always aimed to build a team that is consistent throughout the season, which is something that requires a great collective effort, not just from the riders. All this hard work is reflected in the seasonal team standings. We have also shown that we are capable of remaining at the top of the standings for several seasons and not just once, which is another thing that is not easy to do. For this reason, I congratulate everyone."
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - 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
Loading
Another great performance of our squad 💥 Soudal Quick-Step finished 3rd in the UCI World Tour Rankings this year, cementing its place as one of the best men’s cycling teams in the world 🤩 #TheWolfpack #WayToRide
Write a comment