Patrick Lefevere calls crisis meeting following Soudal Quick-Step’s cobbled Classics campaign

Soudal Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere has told the media that he called for a ‘crisis meeting’ following his squad’s poor showing at Paris-Roubaix, and a meek cobbled Classics campaign in general that saw his team distanced in almost every major race they entered.

The team won Scheldeprijs via Tim Merlier, but didn’t post a single rider inside the top 35 at Paris-Roubaix, and only had three finishers from a possible seven. The situation was only mildly better at the Tour of Flanders, with Yves Lampaert managing to crack the top-20 but the rest of the roster struggling for results.

“Last Tuesday I called a meeting. For those who want to call it that: a crisis meeting,” Lefevere wrote in his weekly column for Het Nieuwsblad.

“It is no secret that we were not involved in Paris-Roubaix either. The central question of our meeting was therefore obvious. Where does the lack of performance come from? There are then quite a few different options on the table. Does it depend on the material? Certainly not on our Specialized bike, because I think it is still the best of the peloton. We discussed tubeless tires for some time, but I think Jordi Meeus rode in the top 10 with exactly the same type from the same manufacturer,” Lefevere went on to write.

The reality is that Soudal Quick-Step’s status in the cobbled Classics has been on a downward trend for the last few years. Kasper Asgreen is the only rider on the roster who has won a cobbled Monument — either Roubaix or Flanders — since the turn of the decade, but throughout the 1990s and up to the 2010s the Belgian squad were the dominant team on the block when it came to the cobbles. Several retirements, and the fact that the team has divested much of its investment and budget towards Remco Evenepoel’s Grand Tour ambitions, has left the team struggling. At the same time, Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek, and Alpecin Deceuninck have all risen to the challenge and become major players in the Spring Classics.

Read more: Tom Boonen ‘doesn’t recognise’ Soudal Quick-Step amidst Classics drought

The Soudal Quick-Step Classics team has only been diluted in terms of talent over the last few years, and while Lefevere has certainly picked up a number of promising riders for the future, he lacks a consistent performer who can challenge for podiums. That said, he should still expect more from the likes of Asgreen and Lampaert, while Julian Alaphilippe admitted recently that he raced through the spring with a knee injury. According to Lefevere, the reason for the poor performances could be down to preparation, rather than talent.

“Should spring riders go on an altitude training camp, as Yves Lampaert, Julian Alaphilippe and Casper Pedersen, among others, did in February? The riders who score in the spring behind Mathieu van der Poel are the ones who ride small spring races in February, such as Bessèges and the Coupe de France races. We don't ride there because there are too many riders on training to make selections,” he said.

“We should not dramatise the situation. At the moment we have still won thirteen races. Only UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike do better. My sponsors use a helicopter view and mainly aim abroad anyway. Remco in Portugal and Landa in Spain certainly make them happy. It is the Flemish fans and media who have a fixation on classics.”

“What we are experiencing now is certainly frustrating. I'm trying to play my role, but at the moment it means staying silent and paying the wages. Apparently, it is not good for the atmosphere if I say my opinion too much and too bluntly. But I see what I see and I feel what I feel. Well hidden in my pockets, I regularly clench my fists in frustration.”

The team will be without Evenepoel for the Ardennes Classics after the Belgian was injured in a crash on stage 4 that left him with a fractured scapula and collarbone.

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