LEFEVERE. "I STARTED A NEW LIFE AND I'M PROUD OF WHAT I'VE DONE"
INTERVIEW | 02/01/2025 | 08:10 di Francesca Monzone Patrick Lefevere will turn 70 in a few days and entered 2025 by posting a photo on social media with a New Year's wish for everyone and the phrase: "This is the first day of my new life". The Belgian manager spent New Year's Eve in South Africa with his two children, their respective partners, and his wife. "For the first time in our lives, we will all go on vacation together" - Lefevere told the Belgian press - "I am a normal man, I have nothing to say now". For Lefevere, it seems that the time has come for affection, family, and taking care of himself, and cycling, which has always been first in his life, might no longer be the focus of his world. " I was never the head of the family. My wife raised my youngest son almost alone. At home, I park under the covered parking spot, enter through the laundry, put on my slippers, and start getting used to my new life. Now I'll have to help out a bit more at home. I have two left hands, that's for sure, but I'll try to do my best". Lefevere has retired without regrets, neither for what he has done nor for the choice he made. "I have been officially retired for five years, but I have always continued to work. I founded the team in 2003 and made sure it could continue over time. You can never be sure what might happen in the future, but the future is secured until 2027. With Jurgen Foré, there is also a good successor who has taken my place since January 1st. So now I can stop". Lefevere, in his words to the Belgian press, is calm and sincere, and regarding his choice, he wanted to emphasize that no one forced him to take this new path. "In any case, no one stabbed me in the back. I had discussions with Zdenek Bakala, the team owner. I owned 20% of the team's shares, which also had financial implications. When you're short on money, you have to add more, and a cycling team is always short on money. Now he will buy my shares, but I want to say that I am a happy man. I received a very warm reaction from the cyclists when I announced my decision during the training camp in Calpe. They all told me I should continue, but I won't do it the way they asked. I won't continue walking around like a pathetic person, and I don't intend to remain like some kind of godfather. Succeeding me is not a gift, and I'm happy to take a step back". Patrick Lefevere, in his long interview, explained the reasons for his retirement after 45 years dedicated to cycling and the choice to stop, after achieving important successes with Remco Evenepoel in 2024. "I have always tried not to build a team around a single rider, but you can't deny the fact that he is currently the team's beacon, and we are trying to put him in the best possible conditions. I don't think we should feel inferior to anyone. I say this with all modesty, I'm not presumptuous. The Dutch are better salesmen and present things in a better light, but we, from West Flanders, are taking action. Who has given work to so many people? Who has brought so many millions to cycling? I am not God. Otherwise, the world would be much more beautiful". Lefevere is changing his life, but cycling will continue anyway, and Soudal-Quick Step will somehow always remain linked to the Flemish manager, who in his career has always been considered a straightforward person, never afraid of his decisions or their consequences. "Later, I might have a small backlash from my choice, I'm already considering it. I'm a down-to-earth man, so I'm not afraid of the future. I know that a man's life lasts an average of 78 years. If I measure it, I have eight years left. I first survived pancreatic cancer. Then I was one of the first COVID patients to become seriously ill. I realize that I can't live through all this five more times without dying. Maybe not even three times. I'm no different from a businessman who starts a factory and then leaves it. But I'm proud. When I'm driving and see that half of the people in the group have worked with me or have been to my home, for me, this remains the most beautiful thing of all".]
Sento questi racconti da sempre.
Come i ciclisti a fine carriera quando dicono che vorranno passare più tempo a casa e con i figli.Poi in un batter d'occhio te li ritrovi in ammiraglia,agli eventi e come uomini immagine.E guarda caso ancora più in giro di prima...
Ognuno
2 gennaio 2025 16:25ghisallo34
Alla fine della recita, ognuno ha detto la sua parte. Mi sembra un racconto molto di parte, ma piu' sincero di sedicenti manager che hanno fatto 1/10 dei suoi risultati, che pero' hanno il favore della stampa.
Per poter commentare i post devi esser registrato.
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.
La Lega Ciclismo Professionistico ha un nuovo vicepresidente. Marco Toni, milanese classe 1959, succede a Giuseppe Saronni ed è stato eletto nel corso della assemblea di Lega che si è svolta venerdì a Cuneo alla vigilia della sfida tricolore degli...
Raggiungere le trenta partecipazioni al Tour de France non è un traguardo da poco e, proprio per questo, la Groupama-FDJ United, formazione francese di grande tradizione che più di altre “sente” il Grande Giro di casa, farà di tutto...
Il settimo gesto di generosità stagionale di Domenico Berardi — sei dei quali già impressi nella memoria dei tifosi del Sassuolo — questa volta non è arrivato sul rettangolo verde, ma sul lungomare assolato di Forte dei Marmi, dove il...
Come nelle passate edizioni, anche al Tour de France di quest’anno l’Alpecin-Premier Tech sarà totalmente votata alle ambizioni dei suoi due leader più carismatici e talentuosi, Jasper Philipsen e Mathieu van der Poel. I due, a segno entrambi...
La Lidl-Trek si presenta alla Grande Boucle con una formazione che unisce ambizioni di classifica generale a una grande potenza di fuoco per le vittorie di tappa. Reduce dal terzo posto al Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Juan Ayuso guiderà la squadra nella...
Alla vigilia della partenza per Barcellona e per il Tour de France, Mathieu Van der Poel svela un nuovo aspetto della sua personalità e condivide sui social un momento speciale: il fuoriclasse olandese ha annunciato attraverso un post pubblicato sul...
Ancora a quota una vittoria in questo 2026 (quella ottenuta da Casper van Uden al Giro di Turchia), la Picnic PostNL si affaccia al Tour de France con l’idea di svoltare la propria stagione andando a caccia di un...
La Decathlon CMA CGM suona la carica in vista dell’appuntamento clou dell’anno per sponsor e tifosi: il Tour de France 2026. La curiosità ruota attorno soprattutto a un corridore: Paul Seixas, che a 19 anni sarà già nella mischia con...
Caduto in occasione degli assoluti a cronometro, in un tratto di discesa tra Briaglia e Bastia Mondovì, Edoardo Affini sta rivedendo il Tour de France. Per il mantovano della Visma Lease a Bike la Grande Boucle sembrava ormai evaporata nella...
In vista della Grand Départ del Tour de France 2026 da Barcellona, la Movistar ha presentato una maglia speciale che rende omaggio alla città catalana e a due dei suoi simboli più celebri: Antoni Gaudí, nell'anno in cui ricorre il...
2
2
Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
