In the middle of August, the cycling market always intensifies as soon as the signings of the World Tour teams can be made official. This year, Remco Evenepoel has been in the spotlight with the bombshell confirmation of his departure from Soudal – Quick-Step. The Belgian superstar has signed for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe, and will join Primoz Roglic and Florian Lipowitz’s team as soon as the 2026 season begins.For the Belgian team, the loss is very sensitive. However, it is not the end of the world, far from it. That’s what Paul Magnier, one of the great promises of the sprint and fundamental pillar in Quick Step, wanted to point out in his latest statements collected by Cycling News.
“It’s not the end of the team. There are other riders who can make the jump,” Magnier began by pointing out during his participation in the current Tour of Poland.
“It’s a team decision [regarding future race strategies], but it’s going to open a new door in the squad and our future. Remco and I didn’t have the same program, so for me it doesn’t change things much, but it will open a new door,” the French cyclist added.
Paul Magnier says Soudal will be fine without Evenepoel
No hard feelings
In addition to the feeling that things will be fine without Remco Evenepoel, Paul Magnier also had time to make it clear that there are no hard feelings, at least on his part, about what happened:
“I just hope things go well for us in the future with the team, and I also hope he has a good future with his new team,” the Soudal – Quick-Step sprinter commented.
“I say again that it’s not the end of the team. Remco is someone with a lot of talent, he helped the team a lot, but then there are other riders who can stand out, like Tim Merlier and Valentin [Paret-Peintre] in the Tour. So maybe it could even end up being a good thing. We’ll have to see what happens in the future,” he concluded.