“You can’t replace Remco – but we’re not collapsing like a pudding”: Why Soudal - Quick-Step see opportunity, not crisis, after Evenepoel

The departure of Remco Evenepoel was always going to be framed as an existential moment for Soudal - Quick-Step. A generational rider left behind a team built around him, and the easy narrative wrote itself. Collapse. Irrelevance. An identity crisis.

Quick-Step's Wilfried Peeters has no time for that.

“It is a fact that you cannot replace Remco,” the long-time sports director admits in conversation with Wielerflits, before drawing a firm line in the sand. “But our team is not collapsing like a pudding. Anyone who says that has no idea what they are talking about.”

That blunt dismissal is more than rhetoric. It frames how Quick-Step have chosen to interpret this moment not as an ending, but as a release from dependence.

Peeters’ respect for Evenepoel remains absolute. “Remco is currently the strongest rider in the peloton,” he says, before sharpening the context. “For Remco, the challenge is to win against Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.”

That distinction matters. In an era defined by Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, dominance is no longer measured by collecting wins, but by beating specific rivals. Evenepoel’s move to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe reflects that reality. He leaves Brussels for a project designed to give him the mountain depth and Grand Tour infrastructure needed to fight at that level.

Early signs in 2026 underline why Red Bull invested so heavily. Evenepoel has already been winning, immediately justifying the faith placed in him. From the outside, that only amplifies the sense of loss for his former team.

Inside Quick-Step, the interpretation is different.

One of the loudest criticisms following Evenepoel’s exit was that he had absorbed pressure for others. Peeters rejects the idea outright. “What is pressure, really?” he asks. “If a rider does not deliver uphill after we have ridden all day for him, that is not good either.”

Pressure, in this reading, is structural. It does not vanish with a superstar. It simply shifts. When Evenepoel was present, responsibility was concentrated. Without him, it spreads across the roster.

That redistribution is not accidental. It is strategic. “With him in the team, those young guys would never have had those chances,” Peeters says. “That is the big difference.”

Those words reveal the real pivot. Quick-Step are not attempting to recreate an Evenepoel-shaped project. They are deliberately moving away from one.

Early races of 2026 have already reflected that shift. Young riders have been visible, active, and trusted with leadership roles that would not have existed previously. The emphasis has moved back toward a collective model that once defined the team.

“The strength of the team was always the team spirit, and that many riders could win,” Peeters explains. “We have seen in the first weeks of the season that the atmosphere is there and that everyone is hungry for victories.”

It is a familiar identity, but one that had been partially suppressed by the demands of supporting an elite stage race leader.

That recalibration is clearest in how Quick-Step are handling Paul Magnier. Internally rated extremely highly, Magnier is being protected from the temptation of instant coronation. “Do not expect him to win the Tour of Flanders right away,” Peeters cautions.

In a market addicted to hype, expectation management becomes a form of strategy. Magnier is being developed, not marketed as a saviour. Alongside experienced winners like Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle, the focus is on growth, positioning, and timing rather than shortcuts.

Quick-Step’s 2026 season is not about denial. Peeters is explicit that Evenepoel was “perhaps the best rider we have ever had.” It is about refusing to let excellence become a single point of failure.

The sponsor backing remains strong. Contracts have been extended. The sporting structure has been loosened rather than hollowed out. The team no longer bends around one rider’s calendar, training camps, or objectives.

That freedom changes everything. Pressure spreads. Opportunity multiplies. Identity reasserts itself.

Evenepoel will chase Pogacar and Vingegaard in Red Bull colours. Quick-Step will chase something else entirely: relevance through numbers, not reliance.

In Peeters’ eyes, that is not a step back. It is a return to what they were always best at.