Soudal-QuickStep sparsely have shyed away from naming Paul Magnier as a staff chief for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad however within the staff and within the peloton, the 20-year-old French rider is regarded as a conceivable winner and long term Classics champion.
“Can I win the Omloop this weekend? Why not?” Magnier instructed Het Nieuwsblad on Wednesday, after doing a primary recon trip of the Omloop path together with his teammates.
Magnier’s phrases had been extra than simply younger bravado. He’s naturally assured and massively proficient.
“You shouldn’t be over confident but it’s important to believe in your team and to believe in yourself. I feel really good at Soudal-QuickStep, my form is good and my moral is good, so I’m just waiting for the first big races.”
Magnier appears to be taking the entire expectation in his stride and lightly shrugs off the speculation of being one of the vital subsequent ‘tremendous abilities’ of the game.
“I prefer not to really think about that. I prefer to focus on my my own development,” he stated. “I think its really important to enjoy everything and to be happy, on the bike and off the bike, at home with your family and friends. The team has taught me the importance of that.
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“I do know I will have some just right instances with the staff. I did truly just right season remaining 12 months. I’m hoping I will be able to do even higher this 12 months however there is not any power. I’m hoping my occupation will remaining 15 years and my luck will come when it comes.”
Magnier won three stages at the Tour of Britain last year before crashing out and suffering serious concussion. He reportedly also needed 36 stitches in injuries across his ankle, hip and knee.
“I don’t consider the rest about it. It’s a large black hollow in my thoughts,” Magnier explained. “However the docs had been very cautious with me afterwards. I stayed off the motorcycle for a very long time and began to construct it up once more very slowly.”
One of Magnier’s youthful talents is an ability to recover and learn quickly. He won his first race with Soudal-QuickStep in 2024 and again this year, when he won the stage 1 uphill finish of the troubled Étoile de Bessèges. He also won the sprint for second place at the Figueira Champions Classic last weekend. He is fast but can survive on climbs and has a six sense for racing.
He is racing Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the first time but competed on mountain bikes when with the Trinity Racing development team in 2023. On the road at last year’s Dwars door Vlaanderen he was 39th.
He has added muscle and power during the winter and gone head to head with Tim Merlier in training sprints, winning some of them. His huge power output and near 2000-watt peak has sparked praise from Mathieu van der Poel.
The new Tom Boonen
Paul Magnier celebrates a win in 2024 (Symbol credit score: Getty Pictures)
Magnier will only turn 21 on April but by then he could have become Soudal-QuickStep’s next big Classics rider.
“I see the brand new Tom Boonen in him,” directeur sportif Wilfried Peeters told Het Nieuwsblad, before he and the team tempered their words.
“He’s a super good guy,” team coach Klaas Lodewyck said. “I examine him a little bit to Jasper Philipsen: he’s additionally any individual who is aware of precisely what he desires, however who may additionally fail to remember his footwear within the period in-between. Paul is a little bit the similar.
“It’s like he has two personalities. On the one hand he’s really calm and chill but in the race he’s a killer. We’re going to see some serious punches from him if this progression continues.”
Magnier’s race programme contains subsequent Tuesday’s Le Samyn at the cobbles, Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen.
“I wouldn’t be ‘shocked’ if he were already riding in the finals,” teammate Bert Van Lerberghe instructed Het Nieuwsblad.
“I don’t see why not. I really believe that. Paul is the future and the future can come quickly. There won’t be fifteen people that ride up the road on Saturday without him.
“If you’re a quick finisher, you do not want to drop everyone to win,” he stated.
“I will be able to keep in a small workforce and possibly combat for the victory. However you continue to want to be in that small workforce, so you continue to want to be sturdy within the Classics. You want to be sensible and save the legs, however I am in the precise staff to be told temporarily.”
Magnier seems to have everything except the experience of racing in Belgium. On Saturday he can count the support and advice of Yves Lampaert, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Gil Gelders, Casper Pedersen, Dries Van Gestel and Pepijn Reinderink, who is a late replacement for Mattia Cattaneo, not racing due to sickness. Magnier will also race Sunday’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in support of Merlier but also as a possible alternative leader.
He travelled to Belgium at the start of the week and trained on the cobbled lanes of Fanders on Tuesday before the official Omloop Het Nieuwsblad recon ride with Remco Evenepoel and other training rides in the last few days.
“Omloop might be a troublesome race and additionally it is my first time. So I’ve to race sensible and save power for a conceivable dash end,” he told VTM after the recon.
“I would by no means noticed the direction sooner than. It is filled with corners, pinch issues and possibly sectors within the wind. It’s going to be vital to race neatly as a staff.
“I’ll soon find out what I can do. My legs are good, now we’ll soon find out what happens in the race.”
