Seven seasons and out. Remco Evenepoel has spent his entire senior career at the Soudal Quick-Step set-up, but for the venerable Belgian team, Evenepoel's tenure is but one in a series of chapters, team CEO Jurgen Foré said.
He was speaking following the confirmation that Evenepoel would be leaving his Soudal Quick-Step contract early to move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Speaking to Belgian outlet Sporza, Foré also pointed to the fact that Tim Merlier had recorded half of Soudal Quick-Step's victories in 2025 – the 32-year-old sprinter has won 12 times for the team – and added:
"I think we need to race broadly and with the team as a whole again.
"We've done everything we can to make Remco happy. I want to turn the page now and have confidence in the team. We've been around for 23 years and have written many chapters. This is just one of them."
Soudal Quick-Step had been paid a "fair amount" of money to let Evenepoel go , Foré said, adding: "Although sponsors like Soudal prefer to see a contract honored. But we decided we didn't want to go to court."
"I think we're parting ways on good terms," said Foré, following yesterday's news of Evenepoel's departure. "The intention was to start discussions about the future after the Tour—a big goal for both of us. In June, it became clear that there wasn't much room for an extended stay. Also, because of what had happened before, we felt we didn't need to push. So we didn't."
Evenepoel and Soudal Quick-Step have had a huge amount of success together, with the 25-year-old winning Olympic and World titles as well as becoming Belgium's first Grand Tour winner in 44 years when he won the 2022 Vuelta a España.
He had a top 2024 season in which he was third on GC at the Tour de France and then won the Olympic Games road race and time trial followed by the World Championships TT crown (all this despite a heavy early-season crash). However, he struck bad luck in December when he was 'car-doored' by a Belgian postal service vehicle, setting him back hugely.
So far this year he appears to have struggled to regain the form – and even the drive – of last season, perhaps amplified by the longstanding rumours that Evenepoel wanted to leave Soudal Quick-Step, feeling he could go no further.
