Evenepoel-less Soudal Quick-Step release a Tour de France team with many winning options

Soudal Quick-Step has finalised its eight-rider roster for the 2026 Tour de France. For the first time, the Belgian team will have to do without Remco Evenepoel. Their Tour de France team leader for the past two years now leads Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. However, The Wolfpack has excellent alternatives.

A press release highlights Tim Merlier as the team’s main sprinter. The 33-year-old Belgian had a very difficult winter due to a knee injury, but got back on track at the end of March. After his sixteen victories in 2025, he already has six wins this year, so his legs are in excellent shape for the Tour de France.

Merlier won two stages last July and will now be aiming for more. The sprinters will certainly have five to six opportunities, though the first one won’t normally come until Stage 5 in Pau. Team manager Tom Steels: “Tim wants to win stages, and with the changes made to the points classification, the green jersey is also a possibility.”

Evenepoel won’t be there for the climbs, but with Valentin Paret-Peintre and Ilan Van Wilder, the Belgians have a realistic chance of success. Paret-Peintre won last year’s stage on Mont Ventoux and is returning this year with high hopes. “I hope to win another stage, but it would also be great to compete for the mountains jersey. Alpe d’Huez stands out, especially now that we’ll be finishing there twice.”

Paret-Peintre was already in good form this year at Paris-Nice and even finished fourth in the Tour of Catalonia. He showed strong legs during the final weekend of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Van Wilder is also in good form, as evidenced by his fifth-place finish in the Tour de Suisse. The Belgian finished 12th in the Giro d’Italia back in 2023, and if he’s in top form, he could very well aim for a top-ten finish at the Tour de France.

Mikel Landa was also slated to compete in the Tour de France, but it had already been announced that he would miss the race. It turns out that back problems are causing him trouble. “I’m very disappointed, especially after having to miss the Giro d’Italia as well. It’s been a tough year so far, and when I struggled in the Tour de Suisse, I knew there was no reason to go to the Tour. I’m going to focus on recovering now and am hoping to compete in the Vuelta a España.”

In addition to Merlier and the climbers, Soudal Quick-Step also has a strong lineup of all-around riders in the Tour de France. Dylan van Baarle and Pascal Eenkhoorn will be joined by their classics teammate Jasper Stuyven. Stuyven has already impressed at the Giro for Paul Magnier and will be looking to do the same in the lead-out for Merlier.

Bert Van Lerberghe will also do his part as Merlier’s regular lead-out man. Louis Vervaeke is the veteran of the group. “A strong and versatile team,” says Steels, who adds, alongside Merlier: “Valentin wants to make his mark in the mountains, and Ilan will be our general classification rider. With him, however, we’ll take it day by day, because we also have riders for the breakaway and the sprint as our focus.”