Former Soudal-QuickStep CEO Patrick Lefevere is likely one of the most well-known faces and names within the skilled peloton, having run the Belgian WorldTour group for over 20 years after taking the reins again in 2003.
The Belgian, who turned 70 in January 2025, had been concerned in biking on the prime degree for over 5 a long time earlier than stepping down from his CEO position on the finish of the 2024 season.
Read on for all you should find out about Lefevere, one of the vital profitable, influential, and controversial figures of contemporary biking historical past.
Racing within the 70s, directing within the 80s and 90s
Before taking over the position that the majority biking followers know him for at this time, Lefevere was a racer, turning skilled in 1976 and using for Ebo-Cinzia and Marc Zeepcentrale-Superia earlier than hanging up his wheels in 1979.
He was no slouch on the bike, both, regardless of not being one of many main stars of the day. During the 1978 season he beat riders together with Walter Planckaert to take the win on the Omloop der Beide Vlaanderen (now referred to as Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne), whereas later within the spring he took the most important win of his profession with a victory on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España in Valladolid.
He’d race yet one more season earlier than retiring and turning his consideration to a brand new profession as a directeur sportif, beginning out at Marc Zeepcentrale earlier than taking over the identical position at a number of different groups – Capri Sonne, Lotto, TVM, Weinmann, and GB-MG. With the latter, he directed riders together with Wilfried Peeters, Franco Ballerini, Mario Cipollini, Johan Museeuw, and a younger Davide Rebellin.
In 1995, having gained races together with the Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem (thrice), and Amstel Gold Race at GB-MG, he switched to the all-conquering Mapei squad, taking the Belgian core of Museeuw, Peeters, Carlo Bomans, and Ludwig Willems with him.
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The group, which melded Belgian and Italian Classics specialists collectively within the well-known jerseys that includes the brightly colored bricks of the title sponsor, would go on to dominate the Classics through the mid-to-late Nineties.
With Lefevere on board, first as a DS, and in 1999 and 2000 as basic supervisor, the group would win the Tour of Flanders twice and Paris-Roubaix 5 occasions. The triumphs on the latter included an unprecedented three Mapei podium sweeps led by Museeuw, Ballerini, and Andrea Tafi.
During his time with the group, Mapei would rack up an unbelievable 366 victories, together with a report 81 through the 1997 season. That report would stand till Columbia-HTC gained 85 races in 2009, whereas UAE Team Emirates equalled the report in 2024.
After surviving a most cancers scare with a pancreatic tumour in 2000, Lefevere switched groups once more the next 12 months, becoming a member of Domo-Farm Frites for 2 seasons. Once once more he made the transfer together with a Belgian contingent of racers, with Museeuw and Peeters available to discovered the brand new group together with Leif Hoste, Axel Merckx and additional acquainted names resembling Richard Virenque and Robbie McEwen.
The group wasn’t as dominant as MG-GB or Mapei, however as soon as once more they confirmed up big-time at Paris-Roubaix, with Servais Knaven main residence Museeuw and Romans Vainšteins in one other one-two-three for Lefevere. 2002 introduced one other Paris-Roubaix victory, the seventh of Lefevere’s profession, as Museeuw soloed into the well-known Roubaix velodrome three minutes away from second place.
Patrick Lefevere by way of the years
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Two a long time of unprecedented success at QuickStep
For 2003, there was a brand new group – this time bringing the remnants of Domo and Mapei collectively beneath new sponsors, QuickStep-Davitamon. Once once more, Museeuw and Peeters joined Lefevere, the latter retiring and beginning work as a directeur sportif on the Belgian squad.
The likes of Paolo Bettini, a younger Tom Boonen, and the mercurial Frank Vandenbroucke additionally signed on for the trip as Lefevere introduced collectively the group which might outline his profession greater than any of his earlier stops.
In his position as basic supervisor and CEO at QuickStep – which in recent times gained the nickname of ‘The Wolfpack’ – the place he dominated for 22 seasons, Lefevere has overseen a laundry record of biking superstars of the twenty first Century.
For years, his group was once more referred to as the dominant pressure within the spring Classics, with riders together with Boonen, Stijn Devolder, Philippe Gilbert, Niki Terpstra, Kasper Asgreen racking up 14 Flanders and Roubaix titles, amongst numerous different one-day races.
Top sprinter after prime sprinter have additionally handed by way of the group, with Mark Cavendish, Sam Bennett, Marcel Kittel, Fernando Gaviria, Alessandro Petacchi, Elia Viviani, Fabio Jakobsen, and Tim Merlier all contributing to the most important win lists in biking 12 months after 12 months through the vaunted QuickStep dash practice.
Lefevere’s forays into the Grand Tour GC world have been much less profitable, with signings together with José Rujano and José Antonio Pecharromán failing to match the Classics and dash stars. In latest years, the rise of Remco Evenepoel, round whom the group has been rebuilt, has ‘solved’ Lefevere’s long-standing GC drawback with wins on the Vuelta a España, a bunch of stage races, plus 5 Olympic and world titles.
In over 20 years as boss at QuickStep, then, Lefevere has overseen probably the most profitable biking group on this planet. Since 2003, the group has gained 981 races, a quantity unmatched within the sport and unlikely to be reached by any single group within the foreseeable future.
In addition to that overwhelming success, Lefevere additionally grew to become recognized through the years for his gruff and easy method which has seen him courtroom controversy with numerous statements about girls’s biking and his personal riders.
In latest seasons, Lefevere has been compelled to apologise so as to keep away from a positive for what the UCI known as “public feedback thought-about as disparaging in the direction of girls”, whereas he had beforehand mentioned that he was “not a welfare centre” when requested if he may begin a girls’s group.
He has additionally had a number of high-profile fallings out with a number of QuickStep riders, closely criticising a number of – together with Sam Bennett and Julian Alaphilippe – who had been battling accidents and underperformance. He notably criticised the Frenchman for being “beneath the affect” of his companion Marion Rousse, whereas upon Bennett’s transfer away from the group, he likened the sprinter to “girls who return residence after home abuse”.
However, regardless of his many controversial remarks and newspaper columns, Lefevere stands as one of the vital necessary and influential figures in fashionable biking – in Belgium and past.
His success as a directeur sportif and group supervisor over a long time of racing will seemingly by no means be matched, whereas his skill to maintain QuickStep working – co-sponsors alongside the ever-present flooring firm have included Davitamon, Innergetic, Omega Pharma, Etixx, Deceuninck, and Soudal – attracting main stars, and profitable on a restricted price range should even be applauded.
Now, regardless of stepping away from his position as Soudal-QuickStep CEO, he stays concerned within the sport. He continues to pen a daily column for Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad and visited his first race of 2025 along with his former group at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
On March 5, he suffered a well being scare and was admitted to hospital after falling sick at a restaurant. After spending an evening in intensive care, he returned residence a day later.