Patrick Lefevere in his weekly Column has spoken about the Classics season that has just concluded and made an assessment of Soudal-Quick Step, the team he has been the head of for many years. There is disappointment from Lefevere, because despite the 12 victories won since the beginning of the year, the important successes, namely those in the Monument Classics, were missing.

"It has always been one of the cornerstones I have put in every spring - Lefevere wrote in Column -: faithful to my rule, today you will have my frank opinion on the Soudal Quick-Step spring. To put it euphemistically, I remained hungry."

There were victories, but they are not the ones that, according to Lefevere, lead to a positive assessment of an important team like Soudal-Quick Step. Thus, the Belgian expressed all of his disappointment, which perhaps can be traced back to managerial and organizational choices.

"I will start with the good news: Tim Merlier won the Scheldeprijs, Remco Evenepoel the Brabantse Pijl. The team has twelve victories at the beginning of the year and this means that we are certainly among the favorites and even at the top, but it's not enough."

Lefevere wants to highlight the positive results his riders have achieved: remember that the Flemish manager, even though he is no longer the CEO of Soudal Quick Step, still maintains a role on the board and particular respect among the riders.

"There were some nice honorary placements: Paul Magnier's second place at Omloop het Nieuwsblad which can be considered a first place for him. Tim came second at Gent-Wevelgem. Casper Pedersen skillfully anticipated the E3 Saxo Classic, snatching a fourth place. But these cannot be the results that satisfy."

It must be said that there was the problem of Remco Evenepoel, forced into a long absence due to the December accident. But in the big Classics, for Lefevere, Soudal-Quick Step was well below average. At Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Roubaix and Liège they did not have anyone among the top twenty. "It is definitely a disappointing result. There are mitigating circumstances, but not so many. Remco had a bad day in Liège, which can happen after such a long rehabilitation. Of course, the super champions divided the cake this spring. Van der Poel twice, Pogačar twice in the Monument Classics. But this only explains why we are not winning and not why we do not have riders among the top twenty-five. Investments were made to expand the core of 'spring' riders, but transfers are not a precise objective."

The Flemish manager is certainly very disappointed and his gaze is turned towards the future and how his team should find solutions for the coming years.

"The fundamental question for me is this: how will it be possible to improve in the big Classics in the coming years? We have seventeen athletes expiring their contracts, so there is room to give a new face to the team's roster."

Many riders are at the end of their contracts and then there is the Remco Evenepoel issue, who has a contract that will expire at the end of 2026.

"Remco remains the most important contractual issue for the team. His contract will expire at the end of 2026, but in the meantime cycling will have evolved so much that we will find ourselves facing a dilemma. Obviously everyone wants to keep Remco on the team, our sponsors are very clear about this. But what happens if demand and supply are too far apart? Or if the counterpart does not want to extend the contract?"

Lefevere thinks about what happened in other teams, which could not guarantee a certain budget to continue to keep the strongest riders. "In this case, following the example of Lotto and Maxim Van Gils, they want to cash in by selling a year before the contract expires. If no other sponsors arrive, the team could use that money, but the real question is: how much of the team will remain without a rider like Remco?"