As he watched his rider Bob Jungels cross the line at the end of Kuurne‑Brussels‑Kuurne on Sunday, becoming the first man from Luxembourg to win one of bike racing’s cobbled classics in more than a century, Patrick Lefevere could look back to the day, 41 years ago, when he won the race himself. Lefevere’s own racing career was relatively short. But now he is the guiding spirit of the greatest team in his sport. Perhaps, pound for pound, the greatest team in any sport today.
Lefevere would have felt particularly at home on Sunday. He was born 64 years ago in Flanders, the part of Belgium where the weekend’s racing was taking place. Flanders is to cycling what the north-east of England once was to football: a heartland whose essence survives even after the spotlight has moved elsewhere. He is part of a long and deep tradition. But he exists in the modern world less as a reminder of a cherished past than as the master of the present.
Written by Richard Williams
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/mar/04/quick-step-team-cycling under the title “Quick-Step team offer a different perspective on the soul of cycling | Richard Williams”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
