Cycling: Quick-Step - Alpha Vinyl becomes Soudal - Quick-Step after just one year. Apart from the name, not much has changed in the Belgian team. Furthermore, the men in blue remain a threat to the competition on any terrain.
Quick-Step races to victory 49x
For many years, Quick-Step has been one of the strongest teams in road cycling. In 2022, the Belgian team not only wrote a success story. 49 victories were achieved, including the first Grand Tour success by Remco Evenepoel. The now 22-year-old won the Vuelta a Espana and the world title. With that, another year will see the rainbow jersey on the shoulders of a Quick-Step pro. Fabio Jacobsen has established himself as arguably the best sprinter in the peloton. With his European title in Munich, his stage win in the Tour de France and Paris - Nice, he left no doubt that he is stronger than ever. The wolf pack – as Quick-Step is always called in the international media – was as strong as usual in 2022, even though Julian Alaphilippe had a season to forget.
2023 will be even better
Although the 2022 season was significantly worse for Quick-Step than the year before, the Belgian team was again one of the strongest. And that shouldn't change in 2023 either. With Mark Cavendish you lose a well-known name, but certainly not an absolute top sprinter. In return, bumps Tim Merlier to the team that had a good year and developed into an absolute world-class sprinter. With Zdenek Stybar Another big name is turning its back on Quick-Step, but it too has not been able to perform at its best in the recent past. The other departures are Mikkel Honoré, Iljo Keisse and Stijn Steels. The gaps should be closed Jan Hirt and Casper Pederson. Especially the Czech named first could be important because he will be a first-class helper for Remco Evenepoel in the mountains. And if Julian Alaphilippe should also find his way back to his old strength, we can expect an even stronger Soudal - Quick-Step 2023.