It is a pretty bold statement to say the least.
Luke must have been impressive in the training camps.
Luke must have been impressive in the training camps.
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That was a pathetic showing in the cobbled classics apart from Merlier with two firsts and a second in the sprinter races.
It would’ve been better to be eaten up by that hostile Visma merge/takeover 
Quite telling that the worst cobbled season ever by this team hardly generates any discussion anymore on this forum. Such a disastrous campaign and all we get is two messages says quite a bit about how our expectations on this team have tanked lately. We all understand that they're in a transition process, but with their GC team still not great either, I get big 'vlees noch vis' (neither great in the one nor the other) vibes on their performance so far. The only rider that are constantly performing are Merlier and Evenepoel.
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It's not like it's a new thing, it's like the third year in a row...
Actually this year's results in flemish races might be better than last year's because they won Nokere and Scheldeprijs instead of just Nokere.
Actually this year's results in flemish races might be better than last year's because they won Nokere and Scheldeprijs instead of just Nokere.
This entire team is falling behind big time. High time Lefevere started threatening to dock pays from his trainers and performance managers and stop shooting at his riders.
It's not just Asgreen and Alaphilippe. The only performers are a new 34 year old experienced rider, a sprinter who still can't survive a mediocre length/intense race, and Evenepoel who has not reached his late summer '22 form again since.
It's not just Asgreen and Alaphilippe. The only performers are a new 34 year old experienced rider, a sprinter who still can't survive a mediocre length/intense race, and Evenepoel who has not reached his late summer '22 form again since.
I'm convinced Evenepoel showed last year, during Liege and the first day(s) of the Giro his best form (ever).
The (cobble) classic riders then. Three reasons. The level of cycling has increased enormously in recent years. Ala, Asgreen and Lampaert have not evolved. A shared responsibility of those riders and trainers and team leaders. Maybe Lampaert (
with his old-fashioned training methods) has somewhat of an excuse for being in his thirties. But there is also a problem of attitude. Ala's long-standing (not professional) lifestyle. The lameness of Asgreen (Sometimes I'd like to kick him in the butt). Running out of contracts doesn't help either. I don't see it working out anymore. Maybe Ala can still perform a bit in the Tour and peak during the Olympic Games in his home country.
And what about the newly attracted Moscon ? Started with hope, but has since faded into anonymity
The Evenepoel of San Sebastian '22 would have dropped Pidcock on La Redoute '23.
he did. Pidcock caught up on the descent before immediately getting dropped like a stone once the road turned uphill
Remco would have won by 3-4 minutes had he not have soft peddled the final 30 km to guard against a crash in the rain
Maybe i should have been more clear. Drop him once and for all, by more than 5 meters so that he would not have been able to come back right after the turn.
could that have been due to is slipping when he first tried to attack? That delayed his full attack
A complete non-factor again at Brabantse Pijl. Nobody in the top 10, nobody in the final. But if Evenepoel wins Dauphiné, Tour de France, Worlds, Olympics, Vuelta and Lombardia, that might save their season! How will Lefevere frame this at the expense of Asgreen and Alaphilippe though.
EDIT: first SQS rider, Serry, 25th and only rider of the team in the peloton, lol.
EDIT: first SQS rider, Serry, 25th and only rider of the team in the peloton, lol.
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save the season?
That would be the best season of any team in the peloton!
It was a sarcastic take on how bad their season has been so far. I also don't expect Evenepoel to win every race he enters the rest of the year.
Their biggest problem is they are no longer the team that recruit and develop young talents, that team is UAE.
That's not their biggest problem. Their biggest problem is that they have fallen behind in terms of performance, nutrution, training... Riders like Benoot, Matthews, Wellens, Naesen, Politt, Teuns... are systematically outperforming the entire SQS squad. So it's not about age, it's not about talent.
You think he is doing the Vuelta again this year?
I hope he is after missing the Ardennes
He dropped Pidcock last year on la Redoute. But just before the turn to the right and the descent. We could see that Evenepoel wanted to attack a few hundreds meters before, but he had to stop his jump due to a chain or gear or pedalproblem.
Young riders are doing just fine.
QS doesn't have the money to snatch the biggest talents around but Lamperti, Magnier and Lecerf started the season well.
This is simply no longer a team of cobble specialists and it should be treated as such. No surprises really.
Because Asgreen, Lampaert and Alaphilippe (very relevant in 2 RvVs before his performance level dropped big time) has fallen of a cliff. Yes they have lost many guys that used to be good in the cobble classics, but also they dropped of the last few seasons before they left (Stybar, Senechal, Ballerini etc). Since 2021 they have been just very bad and worse every year, and it’s not because they have a team of cobble specialists. It’s because their cobble specialists got more or less irrelevant.
There are too many underperforming riders to put this solely down to riders being old/lazy. Even if the cobbles are no longer their focus, you should still see a rider like Lampaert freelancing to top 10s. Something is wrong further up the food-chain.
Well. Evenepoel performed ok at his level before his crash. So did his mountain-teammates. Merlier was excellent in his domain. Winning sprints in stages and semi-classics. The youngsters did well. Even if the medical guidance and foodapps are not of top level in the Soudal-Quickstepteam, the problem isn't there. Ala, Asgreen and Lampaert have an attitudeproblem and don't live (or didn't live in winter) as proriders.
In a rapidly evolving top sport you will no longer be able to make it on the basis of talent alone.
In a rapidly evolving top sport you will no longer be able to make it on the basis of talent alone.
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