This spring, the Koers cycling museum in Roselare is hosting a special exhibition to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its sponsorship of Belgium's leading team, QuickStep. like Frank Vandenbrouck's bike in the 2003 Tour de Flanders. Some relics. There are curiosities like an empty wine bottle that symbolizes the partnership between team manager Patrick Lefebvre and longtime patron Frans de Kock.

But above all, there are prizes. The walls are effectively covered with rainbow, pink, yellow, and green jerseys. Trophies of all sizes won in races around the world gather dust. Landmark victories by men like Tom Boonen, Paolo Bettini, Philippe Gilbert, and Niki Terpstra are immortalized in eagerly captioned photographs. The retrospective comes at a sensitive time for Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl. With 17 wins already this season alone, they are in the unfamiliar position of being win-oriented but struggling to make an impact in the cobbled classic races that have been their raison d'etre.

On Wednesday morning, a stone's throw from the museum, General Director of Sports Wilfried Peters was inspiring his team for the latest round of the spring campaign at Doire de Fländelen. Several teams on the World Tour have been plagued by poor health this season, but Quick Step's Classics division has been particularly affected. Mainstays Zdenek Stibal and Yves Lampaert abandoned Paris-Nice two weeks ago, Tim Declercq returned at the Doire de Vlaanderen after being out for more than a month with pericarditis, and Kasper Asgreen, who overcame COVID-19 in February, is back at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and Ghent-Wevelgem, finishing 10th and 32nd, respectively, the team's best results. "We only allow fresh, non-sick players to compete. This is a special year. 'This is a special year. Last year we had Covid, this year we have a lot of sick players. This is the situation, but we try to live with it. We will try to deal with it at the highest level."

A little more than four hours later, Doire de Flenderen seemed to confirm what the previous races had already suggested. In this corner of the world, at least this year, the conditions of engagement are not dictated by the men in blue jerseys. When Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix), Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo Visma), and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) cleared Berg ten Hout with 70km to go, there was no Quick Step rider among them. Stybar made a spirited attempt to pass in the following Canaryberg, but was unable to do so and finished 61st. The race in Flanders ended without Quick-Step making a significant impact. The best finish in Waregem came from Yannick Steimle, who finished 14th, 3:48 behind Van der Pol. "We didn't give it our all. We have to survive," Lampaert said. He admitted that he was still feeling the effects of his recent physical problems. 'It's not bad, but it's not good either. Every time I put in a hard effort, I get a little blocked up.

Lampaert, who won his home races in 2017 and 2018, saw little point in being lenient in his assessment of Quick Step's performance. In defeat as well as in victory, the Izegem native was candid. If 15 people run off and no one from the team accompanies you," he said, "you're not good enough. At the moment, the team's hopes in the Ronde seem to rest on the shoulders of defending champion Asgreen, who has been most assured in recent weeks. Since recovering from COVID-19, he has had an impressive third place finish at Strade Bianche and was also the center of attention at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic. Lampert said, "I can only hope that Kasper has a good day. For once, it looks like Quick Step will be concentrating on being the sole leader instead of onslaught in the group.

And yet, and yet. On Tuesday afternoon, photos were released of Julien Alaphilippe training on the Tour de Flanders course with Asgreen, and the world champion, who was eliminated from contention for the 2020 Ronde, has previously insisted that he will skip the cobbled classic this year in order to focus on the Ardennes. He will compete in the Tour of the Basque Country starting next Monday. However, Alaphilippe's presence in Flanders this week suggested that Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl is preparing to break glass in case of an emergency. A pre-race press conference on Thursday afternoon will settle this speculation. 'He has a house in Ronse and yesterday he met Caspar and trained with him. Now he goes to Pey Basque," said Peeters, who claimed that as of Wednesday morning, Alaphilippe's entry in the Ronse was not in Quick Step's plans.

"Life, you never know. The race is on Sunday. But for now it's a no."