Stuyven to share Quick-Step leadership with Van Baarle, who beat him to World Championship silver: "That still stings"

It wasn’t the first time Quick-Step had shown interest in Stuyven. “When I signed my first pro contract, it was between Trek and Quick-Step,” Stuyven recalls in Het Laatste Nieuws. “Back then I even had a better financial offer from Patrick Lefevere, but I still chose Trek. I remember Patrick sending me a message afterwards: ‘The wheel is round and it turns.’ What he meant was: if not now, then later… And look, it turned out to be twelve years later, but no longer with him at the helm.”

In 2025, Soudal Quick-Step came knocking again. But there was competition. “There was interest from six teams, two of which joined after Roubaix, but in the end it mainly came down to Soudal Quick-Step, Q36.5, and Lidl-Trek.” In the end, he did decide to leave his old nest behind, even though that was difficult. “I could definitely have stayed, but Lidl had a different vision for my role. No longer as leader in the cobbled Classics, because they want to rely on Mads Pedersen and Mathias Vacek, plus they also have Jonathan Milan for Gent-Wevelgem.”

“They were very open about that, and it was up to me to decide if I wanted that new role. But they understood that, given the last two spring Classics campaigns where I showed that I can still fight at the front, there would definitely be teams that still wanted me as (co-)leader.”

One of those teams was the squad of CEO Jurgen Foré, who was very willing to give Stuyven a leading role in the Classics. “There’s also Paul Magnier, who has potential, but whether he can already be a leader in Flanders or Roubaix remains to be seen.”

Foré saw that the Wolfpack had weakened in the cobbled Classics, and so he made moves on the transfer market. “He wanted to strengthen the team for the Classics, and ensure enough width so that they can support me with great riders. Dylan van Baarle is also joining, and Yves Lampaert is stronger when he can launch from a support role. I don’t see myself as the only leader, but I’ll take on co-leadership.”

The other big leader will be Van Baarle. The Dutchman left Visma | Lease a Bike after three years. With this second transfer, Soudal Quick-Step has secured two very experienced riders. “I’ve had many battles with Dylan in the youth categories, but always fair. We have a good vibe, except for the fact that he won silver at the World Championships in Leuven (Belgium, ed.) while I only finished fourth. That still stings.” In his hometown, the Belgian came just a few meters short of the bronze.

Stuyven was set to join Remco Evenepoel’s team, but earlier this month it was announced that the Belgian superstar would leave Soudal Quick-Step. Was Stuyven under the impression that he’d be riding alongside his countryman? “Honestly, no. After everything that came out in the past three years about his contract situation, I never assumed Remco would be my teammate in 2026.”

So did the 33-year-old from Leuven know more than the average cycling fan? Nope. “I never heard from Jurgen what the status or vision was around Remco, but my feeling was that this year would be the moment Remco would leave, and that’s how I approached it. I didn’t sign with Remco in mind, for better or worse.”

Evenepoel knew about the interest in Stuyven and even joked about it during altitude camp when the two crossed paths. “But in the Tour, that subject suddenly wasn’t mentioned anymore, which for me was another sign. I also spoke to Remco on August 3, exactly one year after his Olympic road race title. I had messaged him myself, because it’s also a nice memory for me. From his replies it was already clear then that we were not going to be teammates.”