We know a little more about the program Remco Evenepoel for the 2025 season, even if it obviously remains provisional depending on the progress of his recovery in the weeks to come. Still recovering following his accident at the beginning of December, the Belgian was exceptionally absent this Thursday from his team’s big presentation Soudal Quick-Step organized in the conference room of the Suitopia Sol y Mar hotel in Calpe (Spain), but he nevertheless wanted to express himself via a video message recorded from the parking lot of Herentals hospital (Belgium), where he was preparing to have a scanner. The double world chrono champion thus confirmed that he hoped to make his return during the Ardennes Classics, before preparing for the Tour de France (July 5 to 27) passing through the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Belgian Championships. So there will be no double Giro-Tour as initially planned.
Video – The presentation of the Soudal Quick-Step in Calpe
“I have to be patient to be ready for the Tour, that’s life”
“It’s a difficult time doing nothing, not being able to train, but I hope to return to the Ardennes in April and regain my abilities,” explained Evenepoel. “Then we’ll see how it goes. The preparation for the Tour de France will be a copy and paste of that of last year. My program until the Tour will be altitude courses, the Dauphiné and the Belgian championships. It won’t be anything crazy, nothing special. There are few racing days. I focus on the big goals. I need to recover properly first, so that I can then train properly. I still have five weeks without a bike, it’s difficult but I have to be patient to be ready for the Tour, that’s life.”
Among the other big announcements made by the Belgian team during this meeting, the confirmed presence of the Spaniard Mikel Landa (5th of the last Tour) on the Large Loop 2025 to once again serve as luxury lieutenant in the 3rd of the 2024 edition. The Basque will continue after having been leader of the Wolfpack on the Tour of Italy. But the two climbers will not be the only headliners, since the participation of Tim Merlier au Tour de France has also been made official! Unlike last year, the Soudal Quick-Step will not bet everything on the general and will therefore take his star sprinter. The European champion will take part in the big mass in July for only the second time in his career at the age of 32, after a victorious first on the Tour 2021. The one who has also extended his contract with the Belgian team until 2028 will notably have the opportunity to aim for the yellow jersey in Lille at the end of a first stage promised to be a sprint on July 5. Merlier will then double with The Return in August.
Jürgen Foré: “We are delighted with our new riders, who have been carefully selected by Patrick and myself”
Before that, the event began with a little nostalgic sequence, with the invitation of the former CEO Patrick Lefevere on stage to talk about the team’s exploits in 2024, followed by his successor Jürgen Foré. The latter took the floor to give a complete overview. “I enjoyed working with Patrick, it was a good way to familiarize myself with the team and discover the world of Cycling. I was impressed by his attention to the staff. The foundation of the Wolfpack is our experienced and committed staff. Always there to do the best and open to innovation. Patrick selected them carefully, and I am happy to continue working with all these people. Another thing we did last year was continue to invest in our structure, with the growing importance of our women’s and development teams. We are proud to offer an inclusive project to our partners, providing opportunities for 88 runners and 93 staff members. An international group, with 16 different nationalities. Organized in two different companies, with strong synergies for the activities we do together”explained Drilledbefore talking about the new faces of the team, a total of seven riders joining the Wolfpack.
-“We are delighted with our new riders, who have been carefully selected by Patrick and myself. With Andrea we see a young talent from our incredible Devo team join the World Tour team. With Valentin and Gianmarco, we have invested in young climbing talents. Dries, Pascal and Max have a lot of experience for classics and grand tours. And we are sure that a team like ours can bring Ethan to his best level. We are confident that these new riders will strengthen our current, already successful team, and that with the fantastic support of our sponsors, we will be able to achieve great things again this year.“, he concluded.
The 2025 squad of Soudal Quick-Step (30 riders)
– Ayco Bastiaens
– Mattia Cattaneo
– Josef Cerny
– Pascal Unicorn
– Remco Evenepoel
– Gianmarco Garofoli
-Gil Gelders
– Ethan Hayter
– Antoine Huby
– James Knox
– Yves Lampaert
– Luke Lamperti
– Mikel Landa
-Junior Lecerf
-Paul Magnier
– Tim Merlier
– Valentin Paret-Painter
– Casper Pedersen
– Andrea Raccagni
– Pepijn Reinderink
– Maximilian Schachmann
– Pieter Serry
– Martin Svrcek
– Dries Van Gestel
– Bert Van Lerberghe
-Ilan Van Wilder
– Warre Vangheluwe
– Maury Vansevenant
-Louis Vervaeke
– Jordi Warlop
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