It has been all but official for some time now, but Soudal-QuickStep and Remco Evenepoel have confirmed they will target the Tour de France in 2024, with the Belgian team continuing their evolution to back Evenepoel's Grand Tour ambitions.
The team still has a strong Classics squad and a Flemish heart but has bigger goals for July, with Evenepoel also targeting gold medals in the road race and time trial at the Paris Olympic Games. He'll then take aim at another rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships in Zürich in September.
Soudal-QuickStep CEO Patrick Lefevere celebrated the 55 victories of 2023 and hopes for more in 2024 during the team presentation in the Suitopía Sol y Mar Suites Hotel in Calpe.
"This might not be the best way to say it, but winning is the best doping. It's good for the mind and everything," Lefevere said.
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"I hope we win early and all season in 2024. Last year we won all season but also had a few disappointments, for example in the Giro d'Italia. COVID-19 was our enemy there. We were in the lead, and we could have won.
"You have to invent yourself every few years, otherwise other teams pass you. We've invested in riders and staff. We have young people, new ideas, young strategies. There was a need to renew things."
Lefevere and Soudal-QuickStep endured a difficult 2023 season after Evenepoel's father suggested his son was not happy and wanted to move to a stronger Grand Tour team, with Ineos Grenadiers a possible destination.
Autumn's merger/takeover saga with Jumbo-Visma destabilised the team until Richard Plugge backed out of his hostile takeover, with Evenepoel confirming he would respect his contract and stay put.
"It was painful for a period," Lefevere admitted. "This team has existed for over 20 years. We didn't want to disappear, but it all happened above us.
"You're stupid if you make the same mistakes. If you're intelligent, you turn the page. We won't forget what happened, but today is a new day. As I like to say, 'Today is the first day of the rest of my life'. I want to look ahead and win again with these guys."
The 2024 Soudal-QuickStep riders talked about their hopes and goals on stage alongside Lefevere during the team presentation. Evenepoel was the last on stage, standing with some of his key teammates, though he was clear leader of the team with the biggest goals.
"My season is in function of the country of France," Evenepoel joked. "I start in Portugal, then Paris-Nice, then the Ardennes, then the Dauphiné, the Tour de France and the Olympic Games.
"Then I go on holiday for half a year. I'm looking forward to month of August."
Evenepoel led out the morning coffee ride, his face wrapped up against the cold air that has descended on Calpe much to the chagrin of the scrum of photographers and television cameras who were trying to catch his every move.
He set a new Strava record on the nearby Coll de Rates climb on Monday, the local climb used as benchmark for the many teams that flock to Calpe and the surrounding area for off-season training camps. Evenepoel has spent much of the winter at his home near Calpe and appeared ready for the 2024 season.
Evenepoel confirmed he will make his 2024 season debut at the Volta a Algarve (February 14-18), where he will face Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), among a number of other major rivals.
Soudal-QuickStep are still developing their Tour de France squad to help Evenepoel take on Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič, but Lefevere is upbeat about his leader's chances.
"If everything goes smooth, I'm convinced he can go on the podium," Lefevere said. "Knowing his character, he will not be happy with a podium, he'll want to win the time trial in the Tour de France and some stages.
"He has nothing to prove. It's better to be an outsider than the favourite, so let's be the outsider. It's always nice when the outsider wins."
Basque climber Mikel Landa is the team's biggest signing for 2024 and Soudal-QuickStep hope he can be Evenepoel's experienced last man in the high mountains this July. He'll be among 10 new faces on the squad with Gianni Moscon and talented young American sprinter and Classics rider Luke Lamperti also joining along with a swathe of promising neo-pros.
"I did a lot of Grand Tours, with big leaders and we won some of them," Landa pointed out. "I'd like to help Remco win some Grand Tours and when I have the opportunity, do well too. I'd like to do well at the Vuelta."
Lefevere turned 69 on January 6 and begins 2024 as team manager but with support from new COO and Lefevere's potential successor, Jurgen Foré.
Foré was in Calpe for the presentation and will officially start working on February 1. He has quietly spent time talking to riders and staff as he prepares for a fully operative and important role at the team. He spoke about the long-term future of the team and the sport as a whole, referencing the ongoing reform project, One Cycling.
"I already feel part of the team," he said, revealing the strategies he learnt as a partner at Deloitte, with a series of slides. "We have to be the 'best version of ourselves.
"I will ask questions and challenge, we want to improve, adapt and optimise. We want to preserve the Wolfpack culture. We have to consider our behaviour towards each other and ensure the team goals align with personal goals.
"In the long term, we have secured our long-term strategy and financial future. We have to work on the income model of pro cycling. Some evolutions are going on, including the One Cycling project. We want to lead the pack there."
