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The classic core of Soudal – Quick-Step – has been pretty empty in the last few months. Among others, Tim Declercq, Davide Ballerini and Florian Sénéchal left the team. The latter has now explained his departure from the wolf pack in more detail.
Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at 7:10 p.m
Florian Sénéchal has been driving for Patrick Lefevere’s team since 2018. In those six years with the Blue Armada, the Frenchman went from being a valued servant to a co-leader of the Flemish spring classics. He won small one-day races such as Le Samyn and Druivenkoers-Overijse and was on the podium at Gent-Wevelgem and the E3 Saxo Bank Classic.
So many beautiful places of honor, but 30-year-old Sénéchal is closing the door behind him after six years with the Wolf Pack. In an interview with Cyclingnews he explains his departure. “Soudal – Quick-Step was no longer necessarily the team I liked. It somehow neglected the classics.” Or how Remco Evenepoel is actually partly responsible for the Frenchman’s departure.
“It was a great learning experience that made me stronger,” says Sénéchal, looking back on his years at Quick-Step. “But in the end I was even stronger than them, the employees and the drivers.” Maybe that went wrong.”
High ambitions
Sénéchal will drive for Arkéa-Samsic for the next two seasons. He has big ambitions for the French continental team in the spring. “I want to win. Paris-Roubaix would be the top, that’s the classic that suits me best. But I have to assert myself in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. I always have to be in the top ten. If I don’t succeed, “That’s a failure.”
Against this background, Nordist team manager Emmanuel Hubert has already pushed for a number of changes at Arkéa. “I called him immediately to discuss what we could improve on all fronts: race tactics, medical care, nutrition… He immediately implemented these wishes.”
“I also feel much more comfortable here in conversations,” sums up Sénéchal. “While I was always reserved with my old team. I think I even send too many messages on WhatsApp now.”
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