{"id":314684,"date":"2026-02-28T12:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T12:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/314684\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T12:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T12:28:14","slug":"wind-graphs-and-energy-gels-what-it-takes-to-win-an-early-season-bike-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/314684\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind graphs and energy gels: What it takes to win an early-season bike race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBig crash, big crash,\u201d the race radio in the Soudal\u2013Quick-Step team car crackles in the finale of stage four of the 2026 Volta ao Algarve.<\/p>\n

The bunch is just out of view. If Soudal\u2013Quick-Step\u2019s raw, prolific bunch sprinter Paul Magnier has been ensnarled in this fall with 10 kilometres to go, his chances are surely over.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho needs a bike?\u201d director Tom Steels says into his two-way radio to the riders, urgency in his voice.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess. After a tense wait for a few seconds, a message comes back from a rider: no one. They have all dodged the fall \u2014 the win is still on.<\/p>\n

Barely skipping a beat, Steels has some final words of encouragement: \u201cClear your mind. Once the moment is there, no hesitation and go. Stick like glue to each other,\u201d he says. \u201cFull concentration, boys, let\u2019s nail this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is down to Magnier to finish off the job \u2014 and The Athletic is along for the ride.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The peloton, with the team cars lined up behind them, makes its way through southern Portugal on stage four. (Dario Belingheri \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Steels begins his pre-stage PowerPoint briefing with a copy of the New York Times cover from July 21, 1969, bearing the headline \u201cMen Walk On Moon.\u201d It puts a bike race into perspective, even if its inclusion is designed to announce The Athletic\u2019s fly-on-the-wall presence.<\/p>\n

The quotation \u201cSit down with winners, the conversation is different\u201d flashes up next on the screen at the front of the team bus. Soudal\u2013Quick-Step have not spoken up in that discussion regularly this season. The squad went to the Volta ao Algarve without a single victory to their name \u2014 the longest it has taken them to get off the mark, a fact noted by the Belgian media. Magnier\u2019s win in the race\u2019s opening stage relieved that pressure.<\/p>\n

They have not been helped by knee problems for star sprinter Tim Merlier and a broken spinal vertebra for new signing Laurenz Rex.<\/p>\n

The departure of leader Remco Evenepoel to Red Bull\u2013Bora\u2013hansgrohe means the Belgian squad is going \u201cback to our roots\u201d, in the words of directeur sportif Iljo Keisse: Doubling down on Classics glory.<\/p>\n

Monument winners Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven were signed over the winter, although Stuyven, the 2021 Milan-San Remo winner, is a DNS on stage four after suffering an illness.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Quickstep have signed experienced Dutch rider Dylan van Baarle (left) to bolster the team and assist Paul Magnier. (Dirk Waem \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

They are known quantities and then there is 21-year-old Magnier, stretching out his long legs and pinning on his race number as Steels speaks. The Frenchman was born in Laredo, Texas, because his engineer father Laurent was working in the automotive industry on the United States-Mexico border at the time.<\/p>\n

He is the latest in a long line of successful bunch sprinters on this team, following Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel, Elia Viviani, Fernando Gaviria, Fabio Jakobsen and Merlier.<\/p>\n

Magnier has remarkable momentum after winning 20 races in the last nine months, more than any other male pro road racer, even if most of those have come in non-WorldTour races.<\/p>\n

Team-mate Yves Lampaert has previously compared him to their former talisman, Tom Boonen. A hardy sprinter who can get over short hills, Magnier, the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad runner-up, could be a contender in the year\u2019s spring Classics.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul has incredible explosivity, but he also has the endurance to go into those races,\u201d Steels says. \u201cThe only thing he still has to learn is the specificity of the Classics, handling the bike, staying calm at the right moments. That\u2019s why it\u2019s good that Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven came (to the team).\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-time Paris-Nice winner Max Schachmann can see Magnier\u2019s hunger in their team meetings. \u201cHe\u2019s young, he\u2019s savage. When others get scared of pressure, he smiles and he\u2019s ready for it. It\u2019s fun to ride for him,\u201d the German says.<\/p>\n

With more than 60 wins on his record, including nine Tour de France stages, former star sprinter Steels has a rare understanding of the mental pressure Magnier is under and the confidence he needs in his team-mates. \u201cWhen you work for a sprinter, you need that knife between your teeth,\u201d Steels tells the riders.<\/p>\n

Nothing has been left to chance. Steels shows the team temperature, precipitation and wind graphs, runs through riders\u2019 roles, plays a couple of videos of the same finale in the 2024 edition and points out potential danger points on the stage map, including a precipitous, straight descent.<\/p>\n

\u201c120km an hour: I want to break my speed record,\u201d Magnier says.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t play that game \u2014 break it on the finish line,\u201d Steels replies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Tom Steels celebrates one of his nine Tour de France stage wins, this victory coming in 2000. (Doug Pensinger \/ Allsport)<\/p>\n

Jumping into the passenger seat of their BMW team car next to Steels, there is a glut of in-car gadgetry. An iPad with the VeloViewer profile for flat stage four is taped to the dashboard, showing the game-changing ride data app that warns Steels of upcoming corners, obstacles, and climbs.<\/p>\n

Race radio babbles away from the glove compartment, providing updates in Portuguese and English. A pair of two-way radios hang from the rearview mirror \u2014 a blue one for communication with riders, a black one for internal chat with Iljo Keisse in the second team car.<\/p>\n

His mobile phone is also plugged into a mount in the cup holder, used to examine ProCyclingStats updates and to watch the race\u2019s last hour. There is evidently no such thing as too much information.<\/p>\n

Every few minutes, Steels talks to his charges, letting them know about poles in the middle of the road, the gap to the day\u2019s nine-man breakaway or asking whether they want a bottle with 30g or 60g of carbohydrates. Meanwhile, mechanic Fausto Oppici is in the back seat, a cooler of water bottles at his feet and five spare wheels next to him.<\/p>\n

As team car No 7 of 24 in the race convoy, the back of the Volta ao Algarve bunch is regularly visible up the road, flopping left and right like a technicoloured fish tail.<\/p>\n

With team cars driving in a line on the right side of the road, Steels needs to be aware of his surroundings all day: Of riders on his bumper returning to the bunch, race commissaires on motorbikes to his side, the vehicle in front slamming on the brakes. Just like in bike racing, he knows to look at where he wants to go, not at the potential hazard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK, these are quiet roads. But in the Tour de France, with all the public, it\u2019s already dangerous.<\/a> It\u2019s still an outdoor sport, you cannot control everything,\u201d Steels says. \u201cIt\u2019s already the second year that guys in the gruppetto say they often have to stop because of people on the roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

It helps that the majority of directeurs sportifs are former pro racers, knowing when to steer clear of the racing line at the wheel.<\/p>\n

When Steels puts the pedal to the metal to close a gap or move to the convoy\u2019s head to give drinks to a rider, it is hard not to smile and feel the adrenaline surge. You could never drive like this in the real world.<\/p>\n

The pre-eminent spring Classics squad at the turn of the 2020s, Soudal\u2013Quick-Step are no longer on top of that perch. A rider from the team last won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the two races that matter so much to them, in 2021 and 2019.<\/p>\n

They have to figure out the same riddle as their other rivals: How do you beat Mathieu van der Poel and\/or Tadej Poga\u010dar in the most prestigious one-day races?<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividually, they are above anybody else,\u201d Steels says. \u201cThey have strong teams, too. The only way you can make it as hard as possible for them is to have the numbers. You have to give them a lack of team-mates at a certain point and (make them) do it themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step forward their 33-year-old new signings, Stuyven and Van Baarle, savvy, experienced operators with points to prove. Van Baarle, who has suffered several broken bones in recent seasons, has not lost his power. Coming back to the car mid-race, Lampaert wryly asks for \u201cthat motorbike Dylan\u201d to take it a bit easier on the front.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n 2021 Milan-Sanremo winner Jasper Stuyven has joined Soudal\u2013Quick-Step this season. (Tommaso Pelagalli \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As well as the departures of Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe in recent years, there have been big changes in the team\u2019s backroom. Jurgen For\u00e9 came in as CEO at the end of 2024, replacing longtime, larger-than-life boss Patrick Lefevere. Akin to a new manager taking the reins at Old Trafford after Sir Alex Ferguson<\/a>, he is a tough act to follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see that Jurgen wants to make the team a bit more modern again,\u201d Lampaert says pre-stage. \u201cIt is not that we were outdated, but we are really a family team. Now he wants to take it up to another level in terms of science and structure.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Tour de France stage winner in 2022, the Belgian veteran reckons he trains more extensively than ever, doing 100 hours more per year than he used to. In recent years, Soudal\u2013Quick-Step have added a performance sleep specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a bit of a (performance) gap and distance to close (to the top teams),\u201d Lampaert concludes. \u201cI hope we close it fast, but I\u2019m not saying we will close it in one year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Steels believes the self-styled \u201cWolf Pack\u201d are not howling at the moon when it comes to taking on the WorldTour\u2019s alpha predators this spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the underdogs, but that\u2019s also not always the worst position to be in,\u201d the directeur sportif says. \u201cThen it\u2019s all about the riders\u2019 condition, their commitment \u2014 and like many other teams, we also have to hope the weather conditions are not that good. If there is wind and rain, it makes the race completely different. You need that extra difficulty, which makes it hard for us but also for any other team to control the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad today (Saturday), a world away from the palm trees and pleasant weather of southern Portugal, could help to set the tone.<\/p>\n

We get onto the subject of creating a winning atmosphere and the challenge of maintaining it. Steels believes even riders working in race finals for the team\u2019s winning sprinters automatically learn how to race them too. \u201cIt\u2019s like a group dynamic, everybody improves each other, also the belief they have,\u201d Steels says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like we give 50,000 PowerPoints on how to win a race or why. Like I said in the pre-race meeting, you either have a winner\u2019s mentality or you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn training, we often do small races between five or six riders, and usually it\u2019s always the same guys who win \u2014 not always the fastest or the strongest. But they just have that feeling, that need to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is far from panic stations. Only UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG enjoyed more success than Soudal\u2013Quick-Step (56 victories) last year. \u201cIf you win a lot, it seems like it\u2019s become a habit. But it\u2019s never normal,\u201d Steels adds. \u201cIt\u2019s always a big fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

As helicopter blades whirr above the team car, Steels pops black-rimmed glasses on for the last 40 kilometres. Business time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting hectic, boys. Pick the fight you can win, let the other ones go for five seconds. Then fight back, use your brain,\u201d he says into the radio as the peloton enters the finishing circuit in Lagos. Clear, commanding and concise instructions.<\/p>\n

As the race speeds up and riders are jettisoned, the team cars are stuck further behind the bunch. Frankly, you would see the decisive moments far better watching on the couch than in the Soudal\u2013Quick-Step team car, trying to make out who is leading on Steels\u2019s mobile phone screen, as the car goes through twists and turns, light and shadow.<\/p>\n

He is reversing the BMW to park near the team bus as Soudal\u2013Quick-Step rider Jonathan Vervenne hits the front. After letting other fast men hit out first in the wind, Magnier punches through the middle and there is nothing that rivals Jordi Meeus or Jasper Philipsen can do. \u201cYes, he won!\u201d mechanic Fausto exclaims.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Texas-born Paul Magnier celebrates on the podium in Lagos after winning stage four. (Jo\u00e3o Matos \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There are high-fives all round in the car and hugs for the riders from soigneurs, mechanics and the team bus driver once they roll to a halt: a real team effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has an acceleration,\u201d Steels says after replaying the finale on his phone. \u201cThe explosivity and endurance of his sprint are impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure, it might only be bunch sprinting, not putting a man on the moon. Nevertheless, another win for Paul Magnier is another small step for their fresh-faced French finisher and Soudal\u2013Quick-Step, inching them back towards the top of the sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBig crash, big crash,\u201d the race radio in the Soudal\u2013Quick-Step team car crackles in the finale of stage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2175,93451,85,46,105],"class_list":["post-314684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cycling","tag-global-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}