The traditional Soudal Quick-Step is undergoing significant changes. Davide Ballerini has moved to Astana Qazaqstan, Tim Declercq will take on a prominent role at Lidl-Trek, and Florian Sénéchal announced his departure to Arkéa–B&B Hotels for a two-year term.
Soudal Quick-Step is changing its entire structure.
While the sprint team loses some of its key members, the climbing team is strengthening with the arrival of Mikel Landa. It’s quite logical that classic race cyclists have to make room for the lightweight ones. Patrick Lefevere is transforming his team into a squad aimed at trying to lead Remco Evenepoel to victory in the Tour.
“The team I loved so much”
“Soudal-Quick-Step was no longer necessarily the team I loved so much,” explained Sénéchal in a conversation with the American site Cyclingnews. “It neglected the classics a bit. It was a great learning experience that made me stronger, but in the end, I was even stronger than them, the team, and the cyclists. Maybe that’s what went wrong.”
At 30 years old, Sénéchal, despite not being a young rider anymore, maintains the ambition for significant victories. “I want to win. Paris-Roubaix would be the big goal; it’s the classic I like the most.”
The atmosphere in his new team is already very positive. “I also feel much more comfortable in conversations here, although I’ve always been reserved with my old team. I think I even send too many messages on WhatsApp now” (laughs).