Youngster Lamperti also reassures Soudal–Quick Step with magnificent sprint after Evenepoel transfer

Lamperti has been part of Soudal–Quick Step for a little while, but since joining the team in 2024 he had only taken one win. Before that, he already had a stage victory at the 2022 Tour of Taiwan and no fewer than three stage wins at the 2023 Tour of Japan with Trinity Racing, but in the WorldTour he had managed only minor placings, apart from one day in 2024.

That lone success also came in his debut WorldTour season at the Tour of the Czech Republic, again on stage 1, but with a different type of finish. Back then he outsprinted relatively unknown names, but in Thursday’s stage 1 of the 2025 edition he blasted past a much bigger name in Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL). The rest were nowhere to be seen in Ostrava, as Lamperti’s acceleration proved far too explosive.

The victory came at the perfect time for Luke Lamperti, who had been knocking on the door of more wins in several races. In 2024 alone, he finished second in the Muscat Classic, twice runner-up at the Tour of Oman, and third as lead-out for Paul Magnier at the Trofeo Ses Salines–Felanitx. In 2025, he has already taken third in Nokere Koerse, second in Bredene–Koksijde, and fifth on the final day of his second completed Giro d’Italia, in Rome.

“It’s great to win after all the work the team has done,” he said with relief in a Soudal–Quick Step press release. “I’m happy to get my first victory of the year in a race where I already had good memories. The guys were simply fantastic in the sprint and put me in a position where I couldn’t miss. On Saturday we’ll try again in the next sprint opportunity; until then, we’ll ride for Junior Lecerf’s GC.”