Former Vuelta winner unloads on Lefevere and Quick-Step: “Patrick Lefevere, you’re an idiot”

The longtime Quick-Step boss stepped away from the team in 2024, but has never been shy about pointing out how many talents he helped discover. Evenepoel is widely viewed as one of the biggest jewels in the team’s history, and Lefevere has repeatedly criticised Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe manager Ralph Denk for “taking” the Belgian away. “I hate him,” Lefevere said recently about the German.

Horner, however, thinks that’s nonsense. In his view, Lefevere is trying to shift the blame onto Denk while the real issue sits much closer to home. “I love reading Patrick Lefevere’s stuff because it always sounds like he’s right — but he’s definitely not 100% correct,” the American said on his YouTube channel. “So, Patrick: you’re an idiot. There’s no doubt about it, because you had six, seven years to develop Remco Evenepoel properly.”

According to Horner, it was only a matter of time before Evenepoel left the “mothership”, because he wasn’t being given what he needed. “You wonder why a Belgian wonderkid would want to leave Soudal Quick-Step? It’s because you didn’t do enough to make him a better rider — and to help him win more races,” Horner argued.

“You didn’t teach him how to race tactically,” he continued. “Of course it was time for him to leave and sign with a much stronger team called Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe. I’m not even sure they can teach Remco Evenepoel much either, but at least he’ll have a much stronger team around him — and he’ll have teammates who can support him far longer than he ever had at Soudal Quick-Step.”

Horner doesn’t question Evenepoel’s engine — physically, he believes there are very few riders better — but he does think there’s still room to grow in race craft. And in Horner’s eyes, Quick-Step never managed to sharpen that side of Evenepoel’s game. “I’ve always said that if I couldn’t sign Tadej Pogačar, I’d go and get Evenepoel,” he said. “But the day before he signed, I’d sit him down and say: ‘Hey, can I fine-tune your tactics a little?’”

In recent seasons, Evenepoel has frequently come up short against Pogačar in direct match-ups — Horner pointed to the 2025 World Championships and European Championships as clear examples. “Lefevere always says he ‘found’ Evenepoel, but all the way through to the 2024 Worlds he still never told him how to race against Pogačar,” Horner said. “If he goes on the attack with 100 kilometres to go, you keep your teammates together.”

Horner also took aim at Lefevere’s tone in interviews, suggesting the Belgian often comes across as a know-it-all — despite being in the prime position to help Evenepoel the most during those key development years. “His interviews are always the same: ‘I would have done this, I would have done that.’ Why do you need six or seven years to explain what you would have done?” Horner asked. “You’re the leader. So Patrick Lefevere, keep the articles coming — because this is idiocy at its best.”