Will Paul Magnier go to the Tour de France in 2026? Soudal Quick-Step hasn’t decided yet, but it currently looks like a 'no'. Team manager Jurgen Foré seems to have part of the plan ready.
Without Remco Evenepoel, there will be significant changes within the team. Fortunately, Tim Merlier is still there to finish things off in the sprints. Although it’s a Tour for ‘the strong sprinters,’ Foré tells HLN. “The sprint stages are somewhat spread out over the race,” the Belgian continues. “The route is otherwise very tough, with a very hard second week. And on the penultimate day, a mountain stage with 5600 meters of climbing. I think that’s a bit over the top.”
With all those challenging stages, the team wants to spread their chances at next year’s Tour. “With Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle, we have strong riders who could manage in the transitional stages, and Ilan Van Wilder, Mikel Landa, Junior Lecerf, Steff Cras, and Valentin Paret-Peintre can hold their own in the mountains. By racing aggressively, like Junior did last year in the Vuelta, we can also aim for a classification.”
Finally, there’s the inevitable question: should the super talent Magnier already go to the Tour de France in 2026? “We mustn’t forget he’s only 21. It’s way too early to talk about it, but maybe it’s also too early to send Paul to the Tour already. He rode two weeks of the Giro this year, so to immediately expose him to the Tour…”
