Patrick Lefevere happy with spring after Evenepoel win: “Knew he was good”

Remco Evenepoel’s victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège saved the spring of Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl. That is the opinion of Patrick Lefevere, he tells sporza† The fact that Evenepoel already won a monument at the age of 22 is a crown on the work, says Lefevere. “We have always had complete confidence in him.”

“Last night in the meeting I said we had to keep calm. We shouldn’t race nervously,” said Lefevere afterwards. The team wanted to finish Remco Evenepoel early, to have Julian Alaphilippe on hand. Only the world champion was already eliminated before the final due to a heavy fall.

Finally, Evenepoel struck at the top of La Redoute. “We knew he was good,” Lefevere said. “We already saw it this week in the Waalse Pijl, where he was able to bring Julian forward three to four times. Alaphilippe couldn’t always follow him, but then he said he was super good. The Tour of the Basque Country is a very different race, because this is a one-day race. If he then has 20 seconds… I think the image of him jumping over the traffic island and where he unloads that French boy says it all.”

‘We have invested in this’
Evenepoel started the last climb, the Roche-aux-Faucons, with more than half a minute lead. “We got hope, but then they started organizing with three men from Bahrain Victorious and three from Movistar. Those are too no crumblers who sit there. When they turned on the tap full they came to 16 to 17 seconds and we got heart palpitations. But we (Lefevere and Wilfried Peeters, ed.) also said: if he hits the top with 15 seconds, they won’t catch him anymore. He also knows every inch of the course here.”

Barely 22 years old and now Evenepoel has already written a monument to his name. “We have invested in this. And we have always had complete confidence in him, despite the criticism he receives. It is what it is. We knew he could do it, but he still has to do it,” says Lefevere. And whether spring has passed for Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl? “Yes”, the foreman is clear. “The sick will heal, but we have to give those guys time.”

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