New hires and a new name for Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team

Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team is poised to build on the success of its record-breaking year, bolstered by two new top-level appointments and a strategic partner.

The UCI World Tour club welcomes Klaas Lodewyck to its ranks as Sporting Director, while leading sustainable window manufacturer Deceuninck will become the team’s new strategic partner and title sponsor for next season. From 2019, the team’s new full name will be  "Deceuninck – Quick-Step.”

Klaas, a former professional Belgian road cyclist, joins from the BMC Racing Team where he was Directeur Sportif for the 2018 season. He spent four seasons as a rider with the WorldTour team before his cycling career was interrupted by surgery in 2014.

Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team has also welcomed a young talent Remco Evenepoel to sport the colors of teamfrom January 2019. Remco's path to the World Tour kicked off a little over a year ago, when he left football behind for cycling and quickly began racking up impressive results, including two gold medals at the European Championships. 18-year-old Belgian got Quick-Step Floors’s attention.

The changes come as Quick-Step lays the groundwork to better its 2018 achievements of 73 victories in 22 countries across five continents.Moreover, the squad got more than 13,000 points in the premier road cycling UCI World Tour, first time in team history achieved the first place in the team classification and at the end of October received a prestigious prize for the best team in the series. Patrick Lefevere, the team’s CEO did not spare his words of praise for the team, saying: “Congratulations are in order for everybody involved – riders, soigneurs, mechanics, sponsors and partners! We are a big family and every single individual has played an important role in achieving this record.” Investor Zdenek Bakala, who has supported the team since 2011, also paid tribute to the squad as it prepares for further triumph in 2019. With a passion for cycling, Bakala became an integral part of the Quick-Step story with the aim of providing the team with the financial stability necessary to make Quick-Step a world player in the sport. Zdenek Bakala said: “I pay tribute to all riders and staff for their extraordinary passion for winning. The team – and I mean the whole team - have had tremendous success and helped inject a new excitement into cycling. With some new appointments and sponsors, next year promises to be even more exciting.” Deceuninck – Quick-Step is getting ready for the next season, including the 106th edition of the Tour de France 2019. “Our team is in its best possible condition. Luckily, Czech team rider Petr Vakoc is also recovering after getting hit by a car and plans to join us in a few months. We are all looking forward to starting the Tour on 6 July in Belgium, the country of Deceuninck – Quick-Step,” summed up Bakala.