2011 roster
Ages as of January 1, 2011:
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| Manager | Patrick Lefevere | ||
| One-day victories | 4 | ||
| Stage race overall victories | none | ||
| Stage race stage victories | 1 | ||
| Previous season • Next season | |||
The 2011 season for Quick-Step began in January at the Tour Down Under and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.
With just five victories, the season was easily the worst in Quick Step's history. They were all but invisible at the Grand Tours other than a brief run in the leader's jersey for Sylvain Chavanel at the Vuelta a España. The same, bar Tom Boonen's Gent–Wevelgem win, was true of the classic cycle races. They were the last eligible team to score any points toward the UCI World Tour rankings, and finished third-from-last in those rankings, better only than Ag2r–La Mondiale and Vacansoleil–DCM.
During the season, the team announced that Omega Pharma would be rejoining them as a title sponsor for the 2012 season, as Omega Pharma–Quick-Step.
Ages as of January 1, 2011:
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Steegmans won Nokere Koerse in March, from a field sprint. Quick Step had also featured in the day's primary breakaway, with Van Keirsbulck part of the leading group on the road for all but the last 20 km (12 mi). [21] Going into the Belgian classics, Quick Step was last in the UCI World Tour standings, having not yet scored a single point. Team manager Lefevere said that it was too early to judge the team's season, and suggested they should be reassessed after Liège–Bastogne–Liège. [22] Gent–Wevelgem was the first UCI World Tour race of the season held in Belgium. Chavanel figured into a four-man breakaway that took shape near the end of the race; so near, in fact, that team leader Boonen had begun to ride with the intention of leaving the chase group behind, so that Chavanel could conceivably ride for victory. Boonen had had mechanical trouble earlier in the race, but thanks to the efforts of Van Impe, he was able to chase back on. Despite Boonen's intentions of hindering the chase, the break was caught, with Team Sky's Ian Stannard the last man brought back. Steegmans began performing a leadout when Stannard was caught, and Boonen reacted essentially on instinct to sprint for the win. He came first, ahead of Daniele Bennati and Tyler Farrar, a result which surprised him given that he has not targeted Gent–Wevelgem in recent seasons. [23] [24] The result moved Quick Step from 18th (last) place up to 14th in the UCI standings. [25]
Boonen was frequently mentioned as a favorite at the monument classic the Tour of Flanders. [26] [27] [28] Boonen neutralized a move by BMC Racing Team's Greg Van Avermaet early in the race and later put in an attack of his own, but found himself marked as well. He and Filippo Pozzato tried to follow Fabian Cancellara's accelerations on the Leberg, the day's fourteenth cobbled climb, but soon found themselves gapped off. A short while beforehand, teammate Chavanel had attacked and gotten clear of the main field, bridging up to the leaders on the road. This left him in effective position for the remainder of the race to stay with Cancellara and other favorites, since he did not have as far to go to mark their attacks. He was able to stay with the front of the race when Cancellara, Philippe Gilbert, Alessandro Ballan, and Bjorn Leukemans formed the day's final selection. Boonen and a handful of others chased back on after a while. Cancellara put in a second acceleration on the Bosberg, the eighteenth and final cobbled climb on the day's profile, and only Chavanel and Nick Nuyens could follow. Chavanel tried his luck in the three-man sprint for victory, but lost out to Nuyens at the finish, taking second place. Post-race analysis praised Chavanel for effectively anticipating the hyper-aggressive finale with his own attack on the Molenberg, though Chavanel himself remarked after the race ended that he perhaps should have worked for Boonen in the finale since Boonen is by far the better sprinter. Boonen finished the race fourth, two seconds behind the leading trio. [29] [30] Boonen and Chavanel both drew mention as favorites at the third monument, Paris–Roubaix. [31] Both, however, had difficult rides, suffering repeated crashes. Boonen had his chain slip and get stuck between the frame and crankset of his bicycle, a problem which required a full bike change. He had to wait for several minutes for his team car to arrive and assist him. He was nearly able to chase back on to the group of favorites when his water bottle fell from its position on his bicycle and became stuck between his back wheel and frame. At that point, he crashed with former teammate Maarten Wynants and landed on his knees, sustaining such an injury that he was unable to continue in the race. Boonen remarked after the race that he had never before so much as flatted in Paris–Roubaix, and had only fallen from his bicycle on two occasions. Chavanel, for his part, flatted twice, both at moments when his group was racing at a high speed, meaning it was hard for him to chase back on. He finished the race a distant 38th, nearly five minutes down on the winner. Sporting director Wilfried Peeters said after the race that he had never seen such bad luck. [32]
The team also sent squads to the Trofeo Cala Millor, Trofeo Inca, the Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, Milan–San Remo, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke, the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, but placed no higher than 11th in any of these races.
The team also sent squads to the GP Ouest-France, the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, Paris–Brussels, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, the Grand Prix de Wallonie, the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen, Binche–Tournai–Binche, Paris–Tours and the Giro di Lombardia, but finished no higher than 11th in any of these races.
Just as in the last several years, Boonen opened his season at the Tour of Qatar. [33] He was immediately effective, winning the first road race stage ahead of perennial Qatar rival Heinrich Haussler. It was his 18th career Tour of Qatar stage win, and thanks to a solid prologue time trial, Boonen took the overall race leadership. [34] In stage 3, Boonen flatted at a critical moment when the peloton was at its top speed and lost three minutes to stage winner Huassler, losing any chance to win the race for a fourth time. [35] Boonen contested the sprint to stage 4, finishing third, [36] but he did not figure into the Tour's final stage, ceding a minute and 30 seconds to the leading group to finish 14th overall. Maes won the Tour's youth classification by over three minutes ahead of that classification's defending champion Roger Kluge. [37] At Tirreno–Adriatico, second-year pro Malacarne figured into an all-day breakaway in stage 5. While he and Andrey Amador rode the stage's final kilometers in an unstrategic fashion, allowing the chase pack to catch them, [38] Malacarne's efforts did not go unrewarded. He took the majority of the climbing points on offer for the day, and held the jersey through the race's conclusion two days later. [39] Highly touted mid-year acquisition and world cyclo-cross champion Štybar had his first race with the team at the Four Days of Dunkirk. Despite very limited road experience, Štybar showed quite well, coming third on the race's hardest stage [40] and finishing in that same position on the final podium. [41] Štybar said he was pleasantly surprised by the result, since he expected to suffer badly in the queen stage which had 2,600 m (8,500 ft) of vertical climbing. [42]
The team also sent squads to the Tour Down Under, the Tour of Oman, Volta ao Algarve, Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Paris–Nice, Volta a Catalunya, the Three Days of De Panne, the Tour of the Basque Country, the Tour de Romandie, the Tour de Picardie, the Tour of Belgium, the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Tour de Suisse, the Tour de Wallonie, the Tour de Pologne, the Eneco Tour, the Tour de Wallonie-Picarde and the Tour of Beijing, but did not achieve a stage win, classification win, or podium finish in any of them.
| Date | Race | Competition | Rider | Country | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 7 | Tour of Qatar, Stage 1 | UCI Asia Tour |  Tom Boonen (BEL) |  Qatar | Al Khor Corniche |
| February 11 | Tour of Qatar, Young rider classification | UCI Asia Tour | Nikolas Maes (BEL) | Qatar | |
| March 15 | Tirreno–Adriatico, Mountains classification | UCI World Tour |  Davide Malacarne (ITA) | Italy | |
| March 16 | Nokere Koerse | UCI Europe Tour | Gert Steegmans (BEL) | Belgium | Nokere |
| March 27 | Gent–Wevelgem | UCI World Tour | Tom Boonen (BEL) | Belgium | Wevelgem |
| May 29 | Giro d'Italia, Fair Play Teams classification | UCI World Tour | [N 3] | Italy | |
| September 4 | Grote Prijs Jef Scherens | UCI Europe Tour |  Jérôme Pineau (FRA) | Belgium | Leuven |
| September 21 | Omloop van het Houtland | UCI Europe Tour | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL) | Belgium | Lichtervelde |
Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni is an Argentine-born Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2000 and 2013. Flecha had a reputation of being a Classics specialist and to ride with an aggressive style as he was keen on participating in breakaways. His major victories include winning a stage of the 2003 Tour de France, successes at the two defunct classics Züri-Metzgete and Giro del Lazio in 2004, and the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2010. He was also known for his numerous high placings in important one-day races, most notably Paris–Roubaix, where he finished in the top ten eight times without registering the victory. In the Grand Tours, he was often assigned to a role of domestique.
Tom Boonen is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the U.S. Postal Service and Quick-Step Floors teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Boonen won the 2005 UCI World Road Race Championships, and was a single-day road specialist with a strong finishing sprint. He won the cycling monuments Paris–Roubaix 4 times and the Tour of Flanders 3 times, among many other prestigious victories, such as prevailing 5 times in the E3 Harelbeke, winning 6 stages of the Tour de France and winning the Overall title of the Tour of Qatar 4 times.
Soudal–Quick-Step is a Belgian UCI WorldTeam cycling team led by team manager Patrick Lefevere. The directeurs sportifs are Davide Bramati, Iljo Keisse, Klaas Lodewyck, Wilfried Peeters, Tom Steels and Geert Van Bondt.
Fabian Cancellara, nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam Lidl–Trek. He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began road cycling after falling in love with an old bike at the age of thirteen. After that, he began to take the sport more seriously and won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999. At age nineteen he turned professional and signed with the Mapei–Quick-Step team, where he rode as a stagiaire. He is known for being a quality time trialist, a one-day classics specialist, and a workhorse for his teammates who have general classification aspirations.
Zdeněk Štybar is a Czech professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla. While best known as a cyclo-cross racer, in 2011 Štybar began his professional road career while continuing to race cyclo-cross.
The 2010 season for Quick-Step began in January with the Tour Down Under and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTour team, they were automatically invited and obliged to attend every event in the ProTour. The team looks to remain as one of the world's foremost in the spring classics. Its ridership is mostly unchanged from 2009, in spite of an offseason attempt to sign reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador.
Sep Vanmarcke is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2023 for Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator, Garmin–Cervélo, Blanco Pro Cycling, Cannondale–Drapac, and Israel Start-Up Nation. On 7 July 2023, he announced his immediate retirement after a cardiac scan revealed scar tissue on his heart forcing him to stop racing.
The 2011 season for Saxo Bank–SunGard began in January with the Tour Down Under and ended in October with Baden Cooke's participation in the Noosa Grand Prix. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.
The 2011 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad took place on 26 February 2011. It was the 66th edition of the international classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. This year's Omloop started and ended at St. Peter's Square in Ghent, Belgium and spanned 203 kilometers in the province of East Flanders. The race was the first 1.HC event in the 2011 UCI World Ranking.
The 2012 Tour of Flanders was the 96th edition of the Tour of Flanders single-day "Monument" cycling race. It was held on 1 April 2012 over a distance of 256.9 kilometres – between Bruges and Oudenaarde – and was the eighth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
The 2012 season for Omega Pharma–Quick-Step began in January at the Tour Down Under. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.
The 2012 Eneco Tour was the eighth running of the Eneco Tour cycling stage race. It started on August 6 in Waalwijk in the Netherlands and ended on August 12 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, after seven stages. It was the 20th race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
The 2013 season for Omega Pharma–Quick-Step began in January at the Tour de San Luis. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obliged to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.
The 2015 Gent–Wevelgem was a one-day cycling classic that took place in Belgium and France on 29 March 2015. It was the 77th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem race, and was the seventh race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The defending champion was John Degenkolb, who had won the 2014 edition in a bunch sprint.
The 2015 Paris–Roubaix was the 113th edition of the Paris–Roubaix one-day race. It took place on 12 April and was the tenth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. It was won by John Degenkolb in a sprint ahead of Zdeněk Štybar and Greg Van Avermaet. Degenkolb became only the second German to win the race, after Josef Fischer's victory at the first edition 119 years earlier.
The 2016 Tour of Flanders was a one-day classic cycling race that took place in Belgium on Sunday 3 April 2016. It was the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders; it was the eighth event of the UCI World Tour and the third of the cobbled one-day classics. It was the second Monument race of the 2016 cycling season.
The 2016 E3 Harelbeke was a one-day cycling classic that took place on Friday 25 March 2016. It was the 59th edition of the E3 Harelbeke; it was the second one-day race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the first of the cobbled classics.
The 2016 Gent–Wevelgem, was a one-day cycling classic that took place on 27 March 2016. It was the 78th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem race and the seventh event of the 2016 UCI World Tour. The race followed a 243-kilometre (151 mi) course that started in Deinze and ended in Wevelgem in Belgium, with a portion of the race spent in northern France. The race included ten climbs, several of them cobbled, which provided the principal difficulty in the race. The last and most difficult climb was the Kemmelberg. The favourites for the race included Alexander Kristoff, Fabian Cancellara (Trek–Segafredo), and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff).
The 2016 Paris–Roubaix was a one-day classic cycling race that took place on 10 April 2016 in northern France. It was the 114th edition of the Paris–Roubaix and was the tenth race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the third monument of the season.
Newcomers for 2011 include Dutch national road champion Niki Terpstra, Belgian Andy Cappelle, German Gerald Ciolek and Italian Francesco Chicchi.
