- Quick Step
Infobox Cycling team
teamname=Quick Step - Innergetic
code=QST
base= BEL
founded=2003
disbanded=
manager=Patrick Lefevere
teammanager=
discipline=Road
status=ProTour
season=2003-2004
2005 2006-2007 2008-
oldname=Quick Step - Davitamon (QSD)
Quick Step - Innergetic (QST) Quick Step - Innergetic (QSI) Quick Step - Innergetic (QST)
kitQuick Step ("UCI Team Code:" QST) is a Belgian
UCI ProTour cycling team led by team managerPatrick Lefevere . The sports directors areDirk Demol ,Davide Bramati ,Wilfried Peeters ,Rik Van Slycke andLuca Guercilena . The team mechanics are Jeanick Verstraete and Kurt Roose. The title sponsor [http://www.quick-step.com/ Quick Step] is a manufacturer oflaminate flooring that is available in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia.The new team was created with the name Quick Step-Davitamon in 2003 on top of the old Mapei-Quick Step team that disbanded when their main sponsor retreated from
road bicycle racing after nine years of involvement in the sport. The teams greatest victories have beenPaolo Bettini winning theUCI Road World Cup in 2003 and 2004 as well as theAthens Olympics road title in 2004. In the2005 UCI ProTour season, at which point the team was renamed Quick Step-Innergetic, the team won a large number of classics:Tom Boonen wonRonde van Vlaanderen andParis-Roubaix ,Filippo Pozzato theHEW Cyclassics , and Paolo Bettini theZüri-Metzgete and theGiro di Lombardia . In late 2005Tom Boonen won theUCI Road World Championships in Madrid which topped of a fantastic year for both Boonen and Quick Step. In 2006 Boonen retained theRonde van Vlaanderen and wore the yellow jersey in theTour de France andFilippo Pozzato wonMilan-Sanremo . WhilePaolo Bettini won theWorld Cycling Championships inSalzburg and retained hisGiro di Lombardia crown. This victory was an emotional one for Bettini who broke down crying at the finish having lost his brother two weeks before the race. In 2007Tom Boonen finally won the Points classification in theTour de France , taking two stage wins in the process.Paolo Bettini successfully defended hisWorld Cycling Championships crown inStuttgart . After a somewhat disappointed 2007 spring campaign, the team regained their classics crown in 2008 taking theRonde van Vlaanderen withStijn Devolder andParis-Roubaix withTom Boonen .Doping Accusations
On
January 23 2007 , the Flemish newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws " accusedPatrick Lefevere and the entire Quick Step-Innergetic-team of having used doping systematically. [ [http://www.cyclingpost.com/team/article_004179.shtml Article on the doping accusations] Retrieved on17 April 2007 ] The team would have taken doping on instigation from Patrick Lefevere. The UCI declared onJanuary 27 2007 that there has never been a doping-system in the team. BetweenJanuary 1 2003 andDecember 31 2006 , the Quick Step-riders have been tested 321 times by eight controllers from five different countries. Never has there been a trace of doping.
Both Lefevere and all the riders on the Quick Step-Innergetic-team have sued the journalist and "Het Laatste Nieuws" with a claim of several millions of euros.Major results
2007
* Tour of Qatar: Team classification (team); General classification (
Wilfried Cretskens ); Points classification (Tom Boonen ).
*Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne : 1st:Tom Boonen
*Dwars door Vlaanderen : 1st:Tom Boonen
*E3 Prijs Vlaanderen : 1st:Tom Boonen
* Road National Championships: 1st: Giovanni Visconti
* Tour de France:: ): 4 stage wins (2 byTom Boonen , 1 byGert Steegmans and 1 byCédric Vasseur )
* World Championships: 1st:Paolo Bettini 2008
* Tour of Qatar: Team classification (team); General classification (
Tom Boonen ).
* Paris-Nice: Team classification; 3 stage wins
* Ronde van Vlaanderen: 1st:Stijn Devolder
* Paris-Roubaix: 1st:Tom Boonen
* Tour de France:: 1 stage win (byGert Steegmans )2008 Team roster
As of
August 1 ,2008 . [cite web |url=http://www.uciprotour.com/Modules/SUCI/TEAMS/TeamDetails.asp?id=Mg&RefDate=02.02.2008&MenuId=MTY5Ng&BackLink=%2Ftemplates%2FUCI%2FUCI2%2Flayout%2Easp%3FMenuId%3DMTY5Ng |title=Quick Step (QST) - BEL Riders
accessdate=2008-02-02 |publisher=UCI |work=uciprotour.com]* 2006 Team
* 2005 TeamFuture
=Sponsorship [http://qsi-cycling.com/eng/shownews.php?newsid=2691] =On the morning of
June 11th ,2008 Frans de Cock , C.E.O. ofQuick Step andLuc Maes owner ofLatexco -Innergetic announced they will be prolonging their sponsorship agreement withPatrick Lefevere ’s team for the next 3 years (2009-2011). Although not present today, alsoSpecialized (technical sponsor) andVermarc (sporting/race clothes) renewed their sponsorship with the team."This press conference – Patrick Lefevere explained – was originally planned for tomorrow. In light of the events involving Tom we decided to bring the press conference forward. Our sponsors
Quick Step ,Innergetic ,Specialized andVermarc will be alongside the team for the next three years as well asTom Boonen ."ignings/Renewals
As of
September 8 ,2008 [http://www.cyclingnews.com/news] .Releases
As of
August 1 ,2008 . [http://www.cyclingnews.com/news]
*flagicon|BELWilfried Cretskens , toSilence-Lotto
*flagicon|ESPJuan Manuel Gárate , toRabobank
*flagicon|BELGert Steegmans , toTinkoff Credit Systems
*flagicon|ITAMatteo Carrara , toNippo-Endeka
*flagicon|UKRDmitry Grabovskiy , toISD-Danieli
*flagicon|ITAGiovanni Visconti , toISD-Danieli
*flagicon|RUSAlexander Efimkin , toAG2R-La Mondiale
*flagicon|ITAPaolo Bettini , Retired
*flagicon|ITAAlessandro Proni , toISD-Danieli
*flagicon|ITALeonardo Scarselli , toISD-Danieli ee also
*
List of teams and cyclists in the 2008 Tour de France
*2008 Tour de France
*Tour de France References
External links
*Official|http://www.qsi-cycling.com/
*http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/2008/teams2008/QST.shtml
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