Belgian team "Soudal Quickstep" faces its last chance at the 2023 Cobblestone Classic this Sunday.

The "Big 2" of Mathieu van der Pol and Wout van Aert are the leading candidates to hoist the cobbled trophy over their heads on the Roubaix velodrome. But few would rule them out altogether, as the Patrick Lefebvre-led team is a regular in the race and is led by the likes of Kasper Asgreen and Yves Lampère.

The lack of major wins in the cobblestone classic season is not at all alien to Quick Step, which had blank seasons in 2010 and 2013.

"A podium, huh? Lefebvre gave an exclusive interview at the start of the Paris-Roubaix Fam Avec Zwift in Denain on Saturday, where he spoke about his expectations for the team.

"Otherwise, the world will go on," he added philosophically. 'The week after that we'll go to the Walloon Classic, and we'll try something else in Amstel, Flèche, and Liège. We'll see."

But even if the cobblestones were Sudark Quickstep's "home turf," the spring so far has not been all classics.

The team has accumulated 18 wins in 2023, including Remco Evenpoel's UAE Tour victory, Julien Alaphilippe's Von Ardèche Classic win, and Fabio Jacobsen's stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico. Lefebvre is keeping a close eye on the team's progress and has every statistic in hand.

"On the other hand, when we look at the Iturian Basque Country, we are looking at yesterday, as they are in second place for the 19th time.

"I also count the Tour de Rwanda," he laughed, noting that Ethan Vernon's stage win with Quick Step's training team should also count toward his win total.

Lefebvre said that Tim Merlier's victory at Nocelle Coors and Lampaert's podium at Bourges des Pannes had been the highlights of the Classics season so far, but that team morale had also suffered over the past month.

However, he noted that illness and injury had affected the team over the past month and mentioned the idea of a "bubble" style group for future spring campaigns.

"After Ghent-Wevelgem, the morale of the team was not so good. 'But we can't sing the same song every year. We have a lot of wounded, sick people."

"I said, 'Maybe next year we have to change something. I would like everyone to stay in a hotel for two weeks; not just seven people, but nine if there are changes between races.

"Since we are in a hotel, we can avoid bringing people who are sick. If you have kids at home and they come home from COVID classes, then so be it. And you only have two weeks, so if you can't sacrifice two weeks".

Lefebvre will not only watch the men's race, but will also attend the women's race on Saturday for the first time as part-owner of the AG Insurance Soudal Quickstep team, hoping to witness the elusive top finish that will close out the cobbled season.

He praised the race schedule, in contrast to other major spring classics, where the women's and men's races are held on separate days.

"I had never attended this race before, as it was my first year as a team co-owner," he said. If I'm not mistaken, it's also the only race that the girls run on Saturday and the boys on Sunday."

"I like it because I get to see both races, and I don't think the female athletes mind because it might be a little less stressful for them."

The Belgian Continental team will be led in Roubaix by Romy Kasper and 2001 Roubaix winner Servais Naveen.

Lefebvre expressed regret that the women's team also suffered illness and injury, but was upbeat about their chances of winning the cobbled race.

"In a way it's a little sad because we only have five riders, three or four are sick, some are injured, and of course there are riders who want to compete in the Ardennes Classics.

"Maybe we have ambitions, yes," he concluded, without saying anything about the team's plans for the afternoon.