Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl poised for cyclocross entry
Reports indicate Patrick Lefevere and co. are poised to take control of Tormans CX team in 2023.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Hold on to your bobble hats, the “Wolfpack” may be getting muddy.
Reports through Belgian media suggest that the Tormans cyclocross team will be taken over by Patrick Lefevere’s Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl crew in 2023.
Tormans, home to a bunch of leading male racers, and junior world ‘cross champion Zoe Bäckstedt, is currently a division of the WorldTour road team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux. However, according to Wielerflits and many other outlets, a cooling of relations between Tormans and Intermarché team chiefs will see the squads uncouple sometime soon.
Also read:
The Tormans team is now widely linked to Lefevere and Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl due to links between the ‘cross team and Soudal, the incoming sponsor of Lefevere’s road racers. Quick-Step sport director Wilfried Peeters would steer the CX ship.
The exact nature of the relationship and the sponsor arrangements are still in the works.
#flandriencross@joran_wyseure & Cameron Mason are battling for the win in the U23 category!
📷 @cyclingmedia_ag pic.twitter.com/hNUK39HDzu
— Tormans Cyclo Cross Team (@tormanscross) January 22, 2022
The news would mark an expansion of Lefevere’s dealings with pro cycling. The long-time team chief’s recruitment agency Experza began to back the women’s NXTG road team at the start of the 2022 season.
The Belgian Tormans team is one of the leading CX outfits alongside Alpecin-Fenix, Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal and Baloise Trek Lions. Its top racers include Quinten Hermans, Corné van Kessel, U23 world champ Joran Wyseure, and junior champion Bäckstedt, whose ACROG-Tormans Balen devo team is slated to be a part of the wider move.
Sweet dreams 🌈 #CXWorlds #Fayetteville2022 pic.twitter.com/gvMTxs4Qqx
— Tormans Cyclo Cross Team (@tormanscross) January 29, 2022