What everyone is wondering, Patrick: why now?
Lefevere: “I will be seventy years old in January. I have written a long story, done enough for myself and for the team. After fifty-five years in cycling it has been nice. It’s time to leave the sport. I’ve done enough.”
“The team has also been completely expanded, with the women who have been added. We are really big now and for me it might just be too much.”
“I didn’t want to walk away in the middle of the season either. This is a good time, my successor is ready.”
Were you in charge of your own farewell? Or do you leave under gentle duress?
“It’s not a forced farewell. I don’t know whether I would let myself be forced either (laughs). No, it’s really okay. The decision was not made yesterday or the day before. A few weeks ago I traveled to (team owner) Zdenek Bakala in Switzerland. Then we spoke and together we came to this decision.”
“Zdenek is committed to continuing with the team, despite everything that has happened in recent years. He wants to invest. I won’t mention any amounts, but it is more than everyone thinks. That was good to hear, so I knew I wasn’t leaving a burning ship behind.”
You have often indicated that the job was starting to weigh heavily. Especially the constant search for money.
“I won’t hide the fact that it was difficult to always find sponsorship. In recent years, but actually always. Now fortunately the sponsors are fixed for the coming years, but often we only had one year of sponsorship, at best with an option.”
“Now the person next to me (points to Jurgen Foré, ed.) is responsible for the sponsorship. If I can play a role in that, I will, but it is certainly no longer my most important job.”
“The sponsors are now tied up until 2027, but then you start getting questions from riders’ agents about what will happen in 2028. I’m a bit tired of all that stuff.”
Does health play a role in your decision?
“Of course I’m not getting any younger. Everyone tells me I should take better care of myself, but of course I have my lifestyle. God willing, I will be seventy years old on January 6th. I have known people who lived much more well-behaved lives than me to be buried before that age.”
“I’m not going to lie: physically I felt that I could no longer do the same as ten years ago. Especially with all the storms that have occurred in the last two years. And as I say: the team has become very big. We are a company of 180 people. That was too much for me alone.”
© Bahnmuller Frank
You only told riders and staff last night that you were leaving. How did that news reach them?
“It was a short speech in which I said that I would quit. Apart from a few people, no one knew about it. I didn’t want it to leak.”
“Was I emotional myself? When I spoke to the 180 and eighty people who work for us, I felt something you could call emotion. Afterwards we had a drink, where people came to hug me while crying. That is of course more emotional than this short press conference.”
“When you see the old men crying, the people I have been working with since 1992, it naturally touches me.”
“I single-handedly built this team and made it what it is today. I fought for it, sometimes with some pit bull behavior when they came to my people (laughs). I have always kept the team safe, through all storms. And there were many. Of course I don’t want to see all that go to waste now.”
Who did you receive messages from last night?
“No idea. I’m known for always replying to messages, but last night I didn’t get around to it. I wasn’t in the best of shape because we had a big party in the bar. Today I fly home and then I will have enough time to answer everyone.”
How actively will you remain involved in cycling? Will we see you on the race or will you disappear with the northern sun?
“I’m not going to wave at everyone like an idiot after the finish, that’s for sure. But if someone invites me and I feel like going, then I will go. I’m not going to go to the service course every day anymore, to hear people complain and tell everyone that I did so much better. That’s not my style. I will see and what I do and when I do it. From now on I am a free man.”
