Although it has been officially announced for some time, Soudal-Quick Step and Remco Evenpoel will be aiming for the 2024 Tour de France, and the Belgian team continues to evolve to back up Evenpoel's Grand Tour ambitions.

The team still has a strong classics team and Flemish heart, but in July they have bigger goals in mind, with Evenpoel also aiming to win gold in the road race and time trial at the Paris Olympics. He will then aim for another rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich in September.

Patrick Leferet, CEO of Soudal-QuickStep, celebrated 55 wins in 2023 and more in 2024 at a team presentation at the Suitopía Sol y Mar Suites Hotel in Calpe.

"Maybe it's not the best way to put it, but winning is doping at its best. It's good for the spirit and everything," Lefebvre said.

"I want to win early and throughout the season in 2024. Last year at the Giro d'Italia, we won the whole season, but we had some disappointing results; COVID-19 was our opponent. We were leading and could have won."

"Every few years we have to reinvent ourselves. We have invested in our riders and our staff. We have young people, new ideas, young strategies. We needed to make things new."

Lefebvre and Sourdal Quickstep had a difficult season in 2023, as Evenpoel's father was unhappy with his son and suggested he wanted to move to a stronger Grand Tour team.

The merger/buyout debacle with Jumbo Visma in the fall destabilized the team until Richard Plug pulled out of the hostile takeover.

"We were struggling for a time," Lefebvier admitted. This team has existed for more than 20 years." This team has existed for more than 20 years.

"It would be foolish if we made the same mistakes. If you are intelligent, you turn the page. I don't forget what happened, but today is a new day. I always say, 'Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I want to look forward and win again with this group of people."

The 2024 Soudal-Quick Step athletes shared their hopes and goals on stage with Lefebvre during the team presentation. Even though Evenpoel stood at the back of the stage with his key teammates, it was clear that he was the leader of the team with the biggest goals.

"My season is a function of the country of France," Evenpoel joked.

"It started in Portugal, then Paris-Nice, the Ardennes, the Dauphiné, the Tour de France, and then the Olympics.

"Then I go on vacation for six months; I'm looking forward to August."

Evenpoel led the morning coffee ride, his face wrapped in the cool air that fell on Calpe, much to the chagrin of the throngs of photographers and TV cameras trying to capture his every move.

He set a new Strava record on Monday on the nearby Col de Lattes climb. The climb is a local climb used as a benchmark for the many teams that gather in and around Calpe for off-season training camps. Evenepoel will spend most of the winter at his home near Calpe, apparently preparing for the 2024 season.

Evenepoel will make his 2024 season debut at the Volta a Algarve (February 14-18) and will be joined by Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Wout Van Art (Visma Lease-a-Bike), Tao Geoghegan Hart ( Riddle Trek) and a number of other major rivals.

Soudal-QuickStep is developing a Tour de France roster to support Evenpoel, who will take on Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogachar, and Primosz Roglic, but Lefevere is bright on the leader's chances.

"If everything goes well, I'm confident I can make the podium," Lefebvre said. 'He'll want to win the Tour de France time trial and a couple of stages.'

"He has nothing to prove. It is better to be an outsider than to be popular. It's always nice when an outsider wins."

Basque climber Mikel Landa is the team's biggest signing for 2024, and Sourdal Quickstep hopes he will be the experienced last man on Evenpoel in the high mountains in July. He will be one of 10 new faces along with Gianni Moscon, talented young American sprinter and classic Luke Lamperti, and a group of promising neo-pro athletes.

"I've ridden with a lot of big leaders in Grand Tours and won a few," Landa noted. I want to help Lemko win a Grand Tour, and if I get the chance, I want to win one myself. I also want to do well in the Vuelta."

Lefebvre turns 69 on January 6 and will start 2024 as team director, supported by new COO and potential Lefebvre successor Jurgen Foret.

Foret will visit Calpe for a presentation and officially begin work on February 1. Foret has been quietly spending time with the riders and staff in preparation for his full and important role on the team. He spoke about the long-term future of the team and the sport as a whole, referring to the ongoing reform project "One Cycling."

"I already feel part of the team," he said, revealing the strategies he learned as a partner at Deloitte, along with a series of slides." I have to be the best I can be," he said. [We want to improve, adapt, optimize. We want to preserve the Wolfpack culture. We have to think about how we behave toward each other and make sure that our team goals are aligned with our individual goals.

"Long-term, we have secured our long-term strategy and financial future. We have to work on the pro-cycling revenue model; there are several evolutions underway, including the One Cycling project. We want to lead there."