Patrick Lefevere shares his plans for beating Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert
‘You know what wolves do with their victims? They isolate them’


The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Patrick Lefevere has shared an insight into his team’s tactics for beating Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel in the Classics.
While Lefevere’s Deceuninck - Quick-Step team have already taken their first victory on the cobbles in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last weekend, the competition will only intensify as superstars Van der Poel and Van Aert enter the fray.
Van der Poel opened his Classics campaign in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, while Wout Van Aert will be making his road debut in Strade Bianche this weekend, as Belgian WorldTour squad Deceuninck need to formulate a plan to overcome the two dominant riders.
Deceuninck - Quick-Step general manager Lefevere highlighted that his team have their own star in world champion Julian Alaphilippe.
When asked if he had a plan to overcome the talents of Van Aert and Van der Poel, Lefevere said: “Well, if we don't have the chance to race against these guys, then we better stop tomorrow.
“Do we have Wout Van Aert on the team? No. Do we have Van der Poel? No. We have Alaphilippe and around Alaphilippe there are a few lieutenants and I think with the collective struggle as you saw on Saturday [in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad], even after two crashes, we still won.
“We can keep the spirit of a wolf pack in the team as we call it - you know what wolves always do with their victims? They isolate them. And that's what we're going to do in the next few months.”
Lefevere was speaking ahead of the 2021 edition of Le Samyn, where his team had numbers in the front group and were closely watching Van der Poel, but still missed out on the victory as Van der Poel’s team-mate took a sensational sprint finish.
Deceuninck’s best finisher was Tim Declerq in 26th place.
The next opportunity for Lefevere and his team is Strade Bianche on Saturday (March 6), where a host of Classics stars will line up, including former winner Alaphilippe.
For Lefevere, the spring Classics are a key point in the season as a major highlight for Belgian cycling fans, particularly Opening Weekend in Flanders as well as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
The team secured a hard-fought victory in the first Classic of the season, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, after Yves Lampaert and Zdenek Štybar both suffered crashes, while Alaphilippe launched an unsuccessful attack.
Eventually the race came down to a bunch sprint, with Davide Ballerini comfortably securing victory for the home team.
>>> Who is the bookies’s favourite to win Strade Bianche 2021?
Lefevere said: “As everybody knows, I like winning.
“The way we were riding on Saturday was very aggressive, we had some crashes Lampaert and Štybar. Our world champion Julian was very excited to race again in Flanders and did a suicide attack, but at the end with the lead-out of Kasper Asgreen and Florian Sénéchal, Ballerini won. We were super happy.”
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
-
-
‘A gateway of just how far their dreams and a bike can take them’ - Los Angeles’ first-ever pump track is now open
Los Angeles’ first-ever pump track opened to the public on Friday, September 22, after two years of construction.
By Kristin Jenny Published
-
UK cycle tech falls by a third, with bikes sales also struggling, says industry report
The cycle industry continues to face challenges, with tech in freefall and even ebikes lagging behind the rest of Europe
By James Shrubsall Published
-
Wout van Aert 'forced to fight' for second Tour of Britain victory
‘I had to stay calm’ says the Belgian after Carlos Rodriguez piles on the pressure on tough final stage in Caerphilly
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Wout van Aert wins Tour of Britain by three seconds as Carlos Rodríguez solos to stage eight victory
Jumbo-Visma rider repeats 2021 success to win the race for a second time
By Tom Davidson Published
-
‘It will be a matter of legs’ - Wout van Aert in confident mindset ahead of Tour of Britain finale
Belgian says attack was the best form of defence for Jumbo-Visma after race explodes in Gloucestershire
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
‘It was a crazy plan’ - Wout van Aert on his stunning solo Tour of Britain stage win
Belgian superstar says it’s now ‘up to the others’ to attack him as Jumbo-Visma rider takes over race lead
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
‘You need to have the legs’ - Olav Kooij continues Tour of Britain dominance with third successive stage win
Dutchman completes hat trick of Jumbo-Visma victories ahead of Danny van Poppel and Great Britain’s Ethan Vernon
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Olav Kooij powers to another victory on stage two of Tour of Britain
Dutchman makes it two in two for Jumbo-Visma in Wrexham
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Wout van Aert wins his first ever gravel race by nine minutes
It doesn't matter what the bike is, the Belgian can do absolutely anything he wants
By Chris Marshall-Bell Published
-
Tom Pidcock overcomes mechanical issues to win cross-country MTB gold at World Championships
Yorkshireman says his gears were ‘jumping on every climb’ on final lap of Glentress Forest course
By Tom Thewlis Published