Since the departure of Remco Evenepoel, the focus at Soudal Quick-Step seems to be completely on the spring classics again. That is what the team has always been so good at, with an unprecedented peak between 2015 and 2020.
It has been clear since the last transfer period: the Belgian formation is again firmly aiming for one-day matches. The bodies of Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle, for example, are clear examples of this.
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Add to this the departure of all-rounder Evenepoel and the sights can certainly be set towards the cobblestones. With riders such as Tim Merlier, Paul Magnier, Yves Lampaert and Ethan Hayter in the ranks, this could well be a particularly successful adventure.
This season, these classic troops are led by ‘generals’ Niki Terpstra and Sep Vanmarcke, who will work on the tactics together. However, their past in the peloton was anything but rosy: do things that are done are indeed not reversed, or is this time the case?
Arguments in racing were the rule rather than the exception
“I’m not going to be silly about that: Niki and I had a fight during the race,” Vanmarcke says in conversation with The Newspaper. ”There have often been situations where I had to compete without teammates and therefore had to aggressively choose my position. That didn’t always win me friends.”
In any case, Vanmarcke is honest and frank about his racing history. “I know that I could have been a bastard who made few friends at the front of the race.” According to Terpstra, who is also involved in this ‘duo interview’, it wasn’t all that bad. ”Because that is also top sport, right?”
Is duo Terpstra-Vanmarcke a good combination?
“Only one rider is the first to climb the Paterberg,” said the Dutchman, who actually understood Vanmarcke’s racing tactics at the time. “My starting point was anyway: anyone who does not ride for our team is an enemy.”
Now there will have to be strong cooperation between the gentlemen. “Then there was a struggle, now Niki and I are going for the same goals,” said the Flemish half of the combination. “I am sure that we will now work well together.”
