Soudal Quick-Step announce Patrick Lefevere's planned successor

Soudal Quick-Step have announced their new Chief Operating Officer and the man who is likely to succeed Patrick Lefevere as team boss when the long-standing Belgian retires.

Jurgen Foré, currently a partner at consulting firm Deloitte, will join the team in January as COO in a role that will see him assist CEO Lefevere in the general management of the team on an operational, financial and sporting level.

Foré is the son of Belgian Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix winner Noël Foré.

Soudal Quick-Step said the 53-year-old has “a deep passion and understanding for the sport, in which he still plays a vital part of coaching young riders and being involved in race organisation."

Foré himself said: “I am excited because for me it is things coming together – I was a cyclist up to the age of 23, where life made me make some other choices.

“I went for a different professional career, in consulting, which means that I can now combine my love for cycling with my professional experience. I am passionate about getting the best out of a team and organisation, and it all comes together in this role, which is a unique opportunity that excites me.”

Last week, it was reported in the Belgian and Dutch media that Soudal Quick-Step were already making plans for Lefevere’s replacement, with the Belgian telling Het Nieuwsblad that he had found someone, and that he would start as COO. The news was confirmed by the team on Thursday.

Lefevere, who is now 68, has been managing teams since 1980, heading up squads like Lotto and Mapei before setting up the Quick-Step team in 2003. He has overseen the team’s Classics and Grand Tour success, bringing riders like Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, Marcel Kittel and Julian Alaphilippe through the team.

With retirement surely on the cards in the coming years – perhaps made even more clear by the proposed and cancelled merger with Jumbo-Visma – the team seem to want to make that transition smoother by appointing Lefevere's successor to work alongside him first.

“I am delighted to have Jurgen on board,” Lefevere said. “He is a man that has an impressive CV, that mixes both a love and knowledge of cycling, with business and executive acumen and experience.

"He will help to develop our team to be even more successful both as an organisation and a business, as well as sportingly, and I know everybody at Soudal Quick-Step is looking forward to working with him.”

Soudal Quick-Step

• Nationality Belgium
• Founded 2003
• Team Principal Patrick Lefevere
• UCI Code SOQ
• Bike Sponsor Specialized