“He still regrets it”: how Patrick Lefevere grabbed next to Mathieu van der Poel and did not push for Wout van Aert
Mathieu van der Poel (31) and Wout van Aert (31) have been coloring the race on the road and in the field for years. Both great guys are mentioned in the same breath as their respective employers, but they could also have driven for Patrick Lefevere’s team. Why has that never happened?
Adrie van der Poel and Patrick Lefevere, they know each other. Van der Poel senior still raced under Lefevere. “He extended my career by 7 years. I am eternally grateful to him for that,” Van der Poel testified years ago in one of our podcasts.
On the eve of the last Cyclo-cross World Championships, Sporza brought father Van der Poel together with José De Cauwer and Paul Herygers for a conversation about his son Mathieu van der Poel.
It became clear at an early age that MVDP was made from the right stuff. And thanks to their good bond, father Van der Poel tipped The Godfather of the race about his son.
“I told one man that I still had a talent. He didn’t respond to it. He still regrets it, from the moment I told him that until now,” says Van der Poel senior about how he planted the seed at Lefevere years ago.
“I then offered Mathieu on a silver platter. Christoph (Roodhooft, ed) immediately accepted. I wanted to buy bicycles from him, he gave them to us for free. And we have had them year after year.”
After which a collaboration was born, a marriage that continues to this day. “There have been other teams, but my sons said they had been given that material all these years.”
“They didn’t think it was right to go to another team. They had that upbringing. I told them that it was possible, that they wouldn’t be angry about it. Maybe disappointed, but not angry. But they said they would stay with Christoph.”
Fine from Van Aert
The other Galactico, Wout van Aert, has also never been part of Lefevere’s stable. Although that could have turned out differently.
Van Aert wanted to leave Nick Nuyens’ team in his early years, but his contract hung around his neck like a millstone.
“I had a lot of trouble once when I took Frank Vandenbroucke away from Lotto,” Lefevere himself testifies in a podcast by La Dernière Heure.
After which he starts talking about Van Aert himself. “Why do you think I didn’t take him over earlier? He had a contract. I told him: ‘Buy your freedom and then you are welcome. Because we want you.””
“He didn’t do it and went to Jumbo-Visma. But then there was that lawsuit with the fine. I have nothing against Wout, on the contrary. But I hope that the people who do not respect the regulations will also pay.”
Lefevere brought up the story when discussing Remco Evenepoel’s transfer to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. When team boss Ralph Denk was mentioned in the podcast, Lefevere said bluntly: “Je le déteste. I hate him.”
