{"id":377220,"date":"2026-01-18T17:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/377220\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T17:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:28:09","slug":"most-of-the-transfers-were-done-assuming-remco-would-stay-quick-step-boss-admits-evenepoel-exit-changed-their-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/377220\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMost of the transfers were done assuming Remco would stay\u201d \u2013 Quick-Step boss admits Evenepoel exit changed their plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

When the decision finally came, Fore said it was handled without drama. \u201cRemco made the choice to leave and we respected that under certain conditions. There is nothing more to say about that. We are now starting an era without Remco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planning around Remco<\/p>\n

For Quick-Step, Evenepoel was not just a star rider. He shaped the structure of the team. Grand Tour ambitions, support riders, long term development, all of it was built with him in mind.<\/p>\n

Fore made clear that many of their signings were chosen in that context. Only when it became certain that Evenepoel would leave did they react. That is not the language of a team preparing for years for a departure. It is the language of a team adjusting late.<\/p>\n

That late shift is also why Fore pushed back against any idea that the exit was messy or emotional. \u201cWhen you sign a contract, it is important to me that you respect it or renegotiate it. It is not a scrap of paper,\u201d he said. \u201cIn this world of rumours, a contract is an important anchor, a binding agreement with riders and sponsors. Our sponsors also count on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no bitterness in that line, but there is firmness. Evenepoel\u2019s move to Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe<\/a> ended one of the defining partnerships of modern Belgian cycling. For Quick-Step, it also closed a chapter they had still been writing.Life after Evenepoel<\/p>\n

Fore is clear that the team has already turned the page. \u201cThe riders who are now in our team want to be here. They think they can add something, and that we can make them better.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has also rejected the idea that losing Evenepoel automatically means decline. \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t we be able to win Liege? Or the Amstel?\u201d he said. \u201cOur spring is successful if we are prominently present, competitive for the win, and take an important victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the admission about transfers gives important context. Quick-Step did not redesign themselves in advance for a post-Evenepoel world. They believed, right up until the end, that he would stay.<\/p>\n

In that sense, his exit was not just a sporting loss. It was a planning shock. The rebuild that followed was not a long-prepared project. It was a fast adjustment to a new reality.<\/p>\n

Now, with Evenepoel building his future elsewhere, Quick-Step are building theirs with a squad that was partly designed for a rider who is no longer there. The next phase of their story will show how well they can turn a plan made for Remco into success without him.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When the decision finally came, Fore said it was handled without drama. \u201cRemco made the choice to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,143483,20997,7133,12540,101,109609,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-377220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-jurgen-fore","10":"tag-red-bull-bora-hansgrohe","11":"tag-remco-evenepoel","12":"tag-soudal-quick-step","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-transfers-negotiations","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}