'I hate Ralph Denk' - Lefevere hits out at Red Bull pursuit of Remco Evenepoel

Former Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere has hit out at Ralph Denk’s part in Remco Evenepoel’s decision to free himself from his contract and move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

Speaking to La Dernière Heure’s Radio Peloton podcast, Lefevere revealed that he had lodged a complaint with the UCI regarding Red Bull’s overtures to Evenepoel, but he claimed that the governing body was “afraid” to take action.

Last summer, Evenepoel brokered an agreement to leave Soudal-QuickStep two years before the expiry of his contract to join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, but Lefevere said that Denk’s attempts to sign the rider dated back several years to 2021.

“I don’t like the way cycling is moving towards contract breaches,” Lefevere said. “I sold the Remco project to Soudal for five years. And then, after three years, the trouble started. Ralph Denk offered Remco a contract. And after that, it never stopped. I even filed a complaint with the UCI because there is a rule that says all three parties must agree for a rider to break his contract.” 

Asked for his current opinion of Denk, Lefevere was blunt: “I hate him. He ignored the rules.” 

Although Lefevere acknowledged that he had prised the late Frank Vandenbroucke from his contract with Lotto to sign for Mapei in the mid-1990s in contentious circumstances, he insisted that he had declined the chance to sign Wout van Aert when he was attempting to leave Verandas Willems in 2018.

“I had a similar case once, with Frank Vandenbroucke in 1994. But I haven’t done it since,” Lefevere said. “At one point, I could have taken Wout van Aert. I told him he was welcome to join us if he paid the compensation for breaking his contract, but he didn’t do it.”

Lefevere suggested that the UCI had been reluctant to act on his complaint against Denk because of the presence of Red Bull as a sponsor.

“The UCI didn’t say anything because it’s afraid of Red Bull,” Lefevere said. “If it went to court, Red Bull has unlimited financial resources that would bankrupt the UCI.”

In the lengthy interview, Lefevere also revealed that he had made inquiries about Juan Ayuso’s availability in 2024, when it became increasingly apparent that Evenepoel would eventually leave QuickStep for Red Bull. 

“I spoke about Ayuso with his father, a very intelligent man, and he told me two years ago that he intended to see out his contract,” Lefevere said. Like Evenepoel, Ayuso eventually left UAE Team Emirates-XRG this winter, joining Lidl-Trek.

Evenepoel has enjoyed a successful start to his time at Red Bull, leading the team to victory at the Trofeo Ses Salines before adding two more individual wins at the Challenge Mallorca. The Belgian has said that he signed for Red Bull in order to enhance his prospects of winning the Tour de France.

“Yes and no,” Lefevere said when asked if he could understand Evenepoel’s decision to leave for pastures new. “I can understand that you might get fed up with your entourage. And well, I can also understand that if you’re ambitious, you think the grass is greener elsewhere. I just hope he doesn’t ask to come back in two years.”