Patrick Lefevere knows the Tour de France well and knows Soudal-Quick Step perfectly: he had anticipated there would be problems during the race. "I'm worried about the first days of the Tour," Lefevere said in his Column: "The question is not if, but how many victims there will be."

Patrick Lefevere was prophetic, and the Tour's start in Lille created problems precisely for his Soudal Quick Step. Merlier did not take part in the stage, Evenepoel lost important seconds, and there were several crashes. "I'm worried about the first days of the Tour. General classification riders want to be at the front, all sprinters' teams dream of stage wins and the yellow jersey. And this on French roads, where perhaps there is even more urban infrastructure than at home that creates dangers. The question is not if, but how many victims there will be in the first days when everyone will be nervous."

Crashes and withdrawals were not lacking, and this does not help attract sponsors, who instead move away, considering cycling too dangerous a sport.

"These days, I had a meeting with Bakala in my official role as team consultant" - Lefevere continued, referring to the team owner - "There was an important meeting with him and our sponsors, where everyone shed light on the team's future. Most of what was said is to be considered unofficial, but the Quick-Step people talked again about the safety problem in cycling. This makes it difficult to sponsor a sport where fractures are almost routine and are considered an acceptable risk. I hope the UCI understands that safety issues in cycling are often a discussion topic in the board meetings of major sponsors."

Lefevere is comfortable in his retired life, but cycling is still part of his day and he cannot set aside his passion. Despite his strong feeling for cycling, the Belgian is happy not to be obliged to go to races anymore, especially the Tour, where stress is always very high.

"Since I'm retired, not every day is a party, but after fifty years and more of races, it's nice not to have stress in my head the day before the Tour starts. I won't miss all that tension. I'm certain that for the teams and managers racing, the stress will begin in Lille and will only end in Paris."