'We didn't want to go to court' – Soudal-QuickStep received 'fair amount' for Remco Evenepoel to break contract early, says CEO

Soudal-QuickStep CEO Jurgen Foré has revealed that the team avoided any need for a drawn-out legal process with Remco Evenepoel by receiving "a fair amount" for him to break his contract a year early and join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

Evenepoel was due to remain with Soudal-QuickStep until the end of 2026, but after a four-year saga, he made it clear in recent months that his intention was to leave the Belgian squad and seek new employment.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe will be his new team from next season on, but for that move to take place, a mutual agreement between the three parties had to be reached. With both squads announcing Evenepoel's departure and arrival on August 5, all the speculation ended, and they can now move forward.

"His contract situation was discussed during the World Championships last year and also at the end of the year," said Foré to Het Nieuwsblad. "After that, it went quiet for a while, and we focused on Remco's rehabilitation and his return to racing.

"Our intention was to sit down together after the Tour and see what the future held. But in the end, it didn't happen.

"At the beginning of June, we received word from Remco that he saw his future with another team starting in 2027. And then the question arose whether he could play for another team in 2026. Could that happen either amicably or through difficult means?

"We consulted with our sponsors and team ownership. Because it wasn't the first time, things started to get tough for the team, and we felt there was no way forward. At the end of last week, we decided it was better to do it this way."

An agreement being reached means Soudal-QuickStep would have received severance pay for the deal, the exact number of which is unknown, though it is reportedly €2 million, and was enough for Foré and Soudal-QuickStep's management to proceed without any legal headaches.

"We're not going to discuss sums, but it's a fair amount. Although sponsors like Soudal would prefer to see a contract honoured, we decided we didn't want to go to court," said the CEO to Sporza.

"It's been a game of musical chairs for months and years. Perhaps it's a good thing that there's clarity.

"Neither we nor our sponsors wanted to fight it out in court. We want to move forward with our team. If someone no longer wants to be part of it, then at some point you have to accept that and look ahead."

Foré took over from long-standing QuickStep boss Patrick Lefevere as CEO at the start of this season, having already joined as COO in 2024. But there was little comment from Evenepoel's former employer when the news broke on Tuesday; instead, just a post on X.

"Since I stepped down as CEO of Soudal Quick-Step, I’m no longer involved in transfers or any team matters. Agreement-wise, I’m also not allowed to communicate about transfers – not even about Remco," said Lefevere.

"Please don’t call me. This is the only communication I will make."

Evenepoel's father, Patrick Evenepoel, who has long represented his son, thanked the former long-standing CEO in a short reply: "Thkx for all Boss! We know, what we know…"

Foré is now looking to move on from the transfer saga, which has brought endless questions from the media and speculation over the future of their star rider. The team's moves in the transfer market suggest they are moving back towards their Classics-focussed roots – signing Jasper Stuyven, for example – but Foré didn't rule out future GC ambitions.

"I want to turn the page now and have confidence in the team. We've been around for 23 years and have written many chapters. This is just one of them," he said.

"For next year, we've mainly strengthened the core of the team with versatile riders. This year, the results were already much better, but it still hurt that we couldn't really make our mark in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

"But that doesn't diminish our ambition to win stages in Grand Tours, and we've now also built up the knowledge to aim for GC positions. In 2026, there weren't many climbers on the market, but in 2027, there will be. We'll see what steps we can take in that direction."