Soudal-QuickStep 'wolfpack not dead' says Lampaert after podium in De Panne

Following a disappointing start to cobbled Classics season at Belgium's Opening Weekend at the end of February, Soudal-QuickStep were out in force at a brutal edition of the Classic Brugge-De Panne on Wednesday.

The Belgian team were the strongest in the peloton during the wind- and rain-hit 211km race by Flanders' North Sea coast, racing with four men in the decisive split of 20 which went clear with 60km to run.

Sprinter Fabio Jakobsen was the man most likely for a race which has often ended with a sprint finish since its shift to a one-day event in 2018. However, a late split of four saw Yves Lampaert grasp the mantle, ending up third on the podium behind sprinters Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma).

"For sure, I'm convinced that the Wolfpack is not dead," Lampaert told Eurosport after the thrilling race had drawn to a close.

"It's not easy to race against the Van der Poels and Van Aerts," he added, referring to the Classics to come. "But we are still a really strong team. Remco won in Catalunya and Mauro Schmid was second in Coppi e Bartali. We are not as dead as some people say."

Lampaert was not the ideal man to go away in the group including Philipsen, Kooij and Frederik Frison (Lotto-Dstny) that went clear with 16km to go, with his sprint never likely to get the better of the two outright fastmen he was away with.

But he and his Soudal-QuickStep teammates had been the driver of the big moves all day, starting with four men making the big split of 35 riders which went clear in the crosswinds at De Moeren with 100km to go.

The move would last for 30km before it kicked off again, with 20 men making the front echelon which would go on to contest the victory. He and Jakobsen made it along with teammates Davide Ballerini and Bert Van Lerberghe, and it looked as though the group was all set for a sprint finale before the split 16km out.

"With 50km to go we had four guys in the break, and I think we did a really good job as a team but unfortunately we didn't take the win," Lampaert said.

"In the moment when we turned into the little roads we had to be in front and sadly they were not with me. Once we are already out of those roads, we already had a big gap and from that moment on I stayed in the wheels, but Kooij and Philipsen were really strong."

Lampaert wasn't disappointed to score a podium finish behind two quicker finishers – though they did have a battle to get past after he launched a strong sprint in De Panne. He was, however, disappointed that the team couldn't take the win given their strength on the day.

"For myself, it's a good place but I think with the team we had here we should've taken the win," he said. "Sadly, we didn't do that but OK for me it's a nice result. In the end, it feels good to have some results after a long time, but also a bit disappointed that we didn't take the win.

"Next time, we have to have one more man with us in the final so we can play it as a team," he added in a post-race interview with Sporza. "We rode a very good race as a team, but it's a pity that we didn't take the win."

Soudal-QuickStep managed to command the race and finish on the podium despite only having six men at the start. Super-domestique Tim Declercq was forced to pull out with stomach problems, leaving them a man down on many of their competitors.

The team's other Classics stars – Kasper Asgreen, Florian Sénéchal, and Julian Alaphilippe – weren't in attendance either, the trio coming in for the E3 Saxo Classic and Tour of Flanders and highlighting how much strength in depth they possess.

"Hopefully we'll stay healthy because Tim [Declercq] dropped out last night with stomach problems. We missed him a lot today as well," Lampaert told Sporza before turning attention to his own chances in the coming weeks.

"Hopefully my form will just keep on going up. I now have another tough week with Friday [E3] and Sunday [Gent-Wevelgem], so I hope I can come out of that well and recover for Flanders and Roubaix."