Soudal - Quick Step Thread

[Salvarani]

Ow noez
there's 2 of them.

Or is this Meastro's wife?

Not so silent partner.

Just playing devils advocate, you know.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Masnada has finished on the podium in a monument. He has also finished in top 10 and won a stage in a GT.

Remco has to show more to be in the same conversation as Fausto.

So true man and we are talking about grand tours here, not Balose Belgium Tour

 

[Salvarani]

So true man and we are talking about grand tours here, not Balose Belgium Tour

I know. It is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

No.

Masnada top 10 on gc in grand tour without even trying. Imagine if he tries.

Remco tried to do gc and couldn't finish the race.

He also couldn't win a stage, like Fausto could.

In a head to head on a monument Fausto was much stronger, finish 2nd after doing gregario work

If he was protected he could maybe even drop the Pogacar in the final climb in Bergamo.

Remco is better for time trials and races like Algarve, Norway, Balose Belgium Tour.

 

[Boes]

On topic:

Perhaps QS should just focus on their core. A strong team for one day races and hunt stages and/or sprints in tours.

• Remco could perfectly be used in both the cobble and the hilly classics together with Asgreen and Alaphilippe. Add a healthy Lampaert and Senechal on the cobbles and Bagioli and Masnada in the hills.
• replace stybar as I think he's over (Tratnik comes to mind)
• replace cavendish with Merlier next year and have 2 top tier sprinters with Merlier and Jakobson
• add 1 or 2 young talents as they do each year

Both Remco and Alaphillipe GC ambitions are not realistic at the moment but both could easily win stages in GC's and one day races.

Perhaps in 2 or 3 years Remco can give it another go for GC in grand tour after having won some stages, perhaps a mountain jersey and a couple of one day races (besides Strade and Roubaix he has a chance in pretty much every one day race).

 

[Breh]

Please stop bringing up Alphilippe's GC ambitions. He doesn't have any.

 

[Bonimenier]

Anyone else heard the huge sigh of relief coming from Ecuador when the news of Masnada's absence in the upcoming Giro was announced?

 

[SHAD0W93]

Anyone else heard the huge sigh of relief coming from Ecuador when the news of Masnada's absence in the upcoming Giro was announced?

Yes because now they don’t have to worry about Carapaz being in Masnada’s wheel and he letting it go.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Cant we stop with this braindead Fausto Masnada thing? Its damn annoying.

 

[Bonimenier]

Cant we stop with this braindead Fausto Masnada thing? Its damn annoying.

Just mad that Masnada owns Valverde every day of the week.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Looks like Masnada is out of the Giro squad according to what Lefevere told Sporza today. Due to sickness. Cavendish seems to be sure to ride the Giro, i guess that means Jakobsen will be at the Tour instead of him

They're still figuring out who else will be going to the Giro, but maybe Cattaneo will take Masnada's spot. In the past interviews he said Van Wilder would go to the Giro, but he didn't mention him. Unclear whether that's because he's a certainty, or the opposite. Personally i think it would make sense to send him to the Vuelta with Evenepoel. More TT km, a TTT and with good mountain domestiques in short supply at QS, they could help each other, maybe even hold a tactical advantage over some rivals.

Looks like Masnada will be out for a longer amout of time, he has Mono.
https://www.tuttobiciweb.it/article.../fausto-masnada-mononucleosi-giro-italia-2022

 

[Skalman]

Well, thats Unlucky, still he is lucky it isn't Stereo I guess..

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Looks like Masnada will be out for a longer amout of time, he has Mono.
https://www.tuttobiciweb.it/article.../fausto-masnada-mononucleosi-giro-italia-2022

Man this is such a tragedy. Such a nice guy who never gets many opportunities to display just how talented he is, because of all the time bad luck.

Didn't he already have it as an u23? And that's why he took a long time to turn pro.

Shame for the sport man.

I didn't mean for the Fausto stuff to get so out of hand. I think he is a very underrated rider and also a super nice guy and very passionate about the sport. Always on the attack. So I became a very big fan.

And when I join the forum I was claiming he should be leading the Giro for Quickstep instead of Remco or Almida who I thought didn't have a chance of podium

A lot of people thought this was a strange viewpoint, and so it became a bit of a meme, but I am just a fan of Fausto who wants the best for him.

Last year tendinitis in the Giro and then fracture sacrum in July, this year out with mono. He is really having so much bad luck and he doesn't deserve it.

 

[AlfaLum]

I have to admit that I was wrong. Today clearly showed that Quickstep made a mistake by not taking Evenepoel to the real cobbled classics. He is such a force on those big stones.

 

[Skalman]

Have Quickstep ever had a bad spring like this?, what have they won, 1 one day race? if they don't win either Flech or Liege it is disastrous,
They look old, tired, sick ,unmotivated and out of shape, i guess no riders contract is expiring this year or you would expect more.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Have Quickstep ever had a bad spring like this?, what have they won, 1 one day race? if they don't win either Flech or Liege it is disastrous,
They look old, tired, sick ,unmotivated and out of shape, i guess no riders contract is expiring this year or you would expect more.

Lampaert and stybar are experiing

 

[Ranagazoo]

Quickstep car crashing Alaphilippe out the race sums up their entire spring, I thought he'd done his collarbone at first.

To make it worse it was another quickstep rider (I think Vansevanent) who's veering right in front of the car, taking Coquard with him, led to the crash.

 

[AlfaLum]

Have Quickstep ever had a bad spring like this?, what have they won, 1 one day race? if they don't win either Flech or Liege it is disastrous,
They look old, tired, sick ,unmotivated and out of shape, i guess no riders contract is expiring this year or you would expect more.

If they win Roubaix I think they have turned around their spring for a large part as well.

 

[MnR]

Its being a really bad classic season, but, IF they win Roubaix and Liége, will change a lot the way we see it.

 

[Akuryo]

Today was their spring in a nutshell. Lampaert so close to at least get another podium just to crash out inside the final 10k. They actually rode a good race with Steimle, Ballerini, Senechal and said Lampaert. You won't see that in the results though.

 

[MartinGT]

Felt for Lampaert today. But QS need to refocus and look to rebuild their classics squad.

 

[SafeBet]

Today was their spring in a nutshell. Lampaert so close to at least get another podium just to crash out inside the final 10k. They actually rode a good race with Steimle, Ballerini, Senechal and said Lampaert. You won't see that in the results though.

Ballerini was also very unlucky. He was in the right move with Mohoric, Pichon, De Vriendt...
I think QS collective performance was quite good today compared to the other spring classics. Asgreen was disappointing though.

 

[Akuryo]

Ballerini was also very unlucky. He was in the right move with Mohoric, Pichon, De Vriendt...
I think QS collective performance was quite good today compared to the other spring classics. Asgreen was disappointing though.

Not surprised actually looking at his PR performances over the years, he was always better at Flanders.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Asgreen has been super weird this season. I dont think he has the insane endurance as last year and has done really well in some races which doesnt really suit him THAT much, while being downright bad in two (by far) biggest and most important races for him and QS. Which is very uncharacteristically of him - I have followed him since his debut on QS where we danes have had lots of exposure to him through the races, danish podcasts, Brian Holm etc etc. Very good lad, just goes about his business, loves to race, no ***, the perfect rider and one everyone would want. Every race he entered so far in his entire career (more or less), he hasnt really disappointed. He gets stronger every year and usually does his job to perfection, but this year something is off. I hope he can get it back, cause hes a fantastic rider!

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Lampaert and stybar are experiing

Lampaert is 31, has been sick in the pre-season and hasn't seen his family in 2 weeks since his 2-yr old daughter caught covid. Cut him some slack.