Door shuts on Ineos Grenadiers as Remco Evenepoel confirms his stay at Soudal Quick-Step

'I will stay, because the team will continue' Belgian tells press

09:25, Sunday 8th October 2023

Daniel Benson

Editor in Chief

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Remco Evenepoel will remain as Soudal Quick-Step's star rider

Despite interest in signing several Tour de France contenders, Ineos Grenadiers are set to miss out on making a major transfer this year after Remco Evenepoel confirmed that he would remain on Soudal Quick-Step in 2024.

Within the pool of Grand Tour contenders Evenepoel was probably the last remaining option for Ineos Grenadiers within the transfer market due to the possible merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step.

The coming together of both teams would have nullified Evenepoel’s existing contract with Patrick Lefevere’s Soudal squad, and allowed the rider to sign for either Jumbo-Visma or Ineos Grenadiers without the need for compensation.

However, with the merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step no longer on the table Evenepoel's options of switching teams have been severely dented and he must honour his existing contract with Lefevere for the next two seasons.

If Ineos Grenadiers still wish to make a play for Evenepeol they must now provide Soudal Quick-Step with compensation and effectively buy Evenepoel out of his current team. At Il Lombardia on Saturday the Soudal Quick-Step rider confirmed his intention to remain with his current team.

“I will stay anyway, because the team will continue,” he told Sporza and VTM.

“I am very happy here. It was just a few difficult moments, but next year we'll go for it. We will try to build and perform in the races when we have to. I have no reason to be dissatisfied here. We are going to get the most out of it.”

The news of Evenepoel’s unlikely team switch will be a blow to Ineos Grenadiers. The British team have courted the Belgian rider for well over a year as they look to remodel their squad following a period of disappointment at the Tour de France.

After dominating the biggest race in the world between 2012 and 2019, the British squad have slipped behind the likes of Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates, with their last two podium appearances in Grand Tours coming via their veteran leader Geraint Thomas.

Team owner Jim Ratcliffe has overseen just one Tour de France win since taking over the team in 2019, and that year’s winner Egan Bernal has so far been unable to recapture his best form after a life-threatening crash almost two years ago.

During the summer Ineos made enquiries in relation to several Grand Tour leaders. GCN reported that the squad approached Tadej Pogacar’s agent between the Tour and the Vuelta, while the recruitment drive has also included interest in Juan Ayuso, Cian Uijtdebroeks, and Primož Roglič.

The Slovenian left Jumbo-Visma for Bora-Hansgrohe last week and with Evenepoel set to remain at Soudal Quick-Step the British team finds their options limited.

The squad’s transfer policy has raised several other questions this month, primarily over the type of rider they have sought, and their inability to move swiftly. Both Carlos Verona and Tobias Foss were handed letters of intent to join the team earlier in the year but the Ineos management backtracked on both deals before eventually offering Foss a deal in the last few months.

At the same time the team allowed Carlos Rodríguez, arguably their best hope of Tour de France glory in the next few years, to run into the final year of his contract. A letter of intent between the Spaniard and Movistar Team was signed before Ineos Grenadiers were forced to up their offer, and reportedly pay Movistar compensation in order to keep their rider.

With any possible moves for Evenepoel, Roglič, Ayuso, Pogacar and Uijtdebroeks now seemingly at an end, Ineos Grenadiers find themselves needing to develop their existing talent or waiting for another twist in the transfer market to create an opportunity to sign one of the biggest riders in the sport.