Specialized and Quick-Step End One of the Most Important Partnerships in Pro Cycling

Specialized bikes and team Quick-Step officially ended one of the most significant partnerships in road racing Monday.

Both the U.S. bike behemoth and the long-running Belgian team confirmed the end of an 18-year collaboration that brought the so-called “Wolf Pack” more than 800 victories.

The partnership put the Specialized logo on top of the biggest races in the world and helped develop some of the most popular road bikes on the market.

The split marks the end of an era in professional cycling.

The collaboration between the brand and the team was one of the longest, most successful marriages in the peloton.

Quick-Step riders won cobblestone monuments, Tour de France stages, and world titles on various iterations of the Tarmac, Shiv, and Venge. Riders like Tom Boonen, Mark Cavendish, and Remco Evenepoel are among the superstars who forged their palmarés on the brand’s bikes.

In return, the team helped Specialized refine some of its most successful models sold to the mass market.

Cavendish and Evenepoel are known to have been particularly active in developing its sprint and TT bikes, respectively.

The collaboration began in 2007, paused in 2010 and 2011, and has continued since 2012.

News that the long-standing contract between Specialized and Quick-Step would not be renewed was first reported, though not confirmed, in April.

Separate social media posts by both the brand and the team on the first day of the road racing “off-season” Monday made it official.

“After nearly two decades together, we’ve celebrated some of the sport’s most iconic moments, including victories in monument classics, grand tours, world championships, and countless stage races,” Specialized wrote on an Instagram post Monday.

“Thank you to the riders, staff, management, and fans who helped make this partnership so memorable and wishes Soudal Quick-Step and AG Insurance-Soudal continued success in the years ahead.”

All change for Quick-Step, a shift of focus for Specialized

It will be all change for the team currently known as Soudal Quick-Step in 2027.

The team will ride Merida Bikes and be known as Soudal Safety Jogger.

The Belgian flooring company Quick-Step steps down from its title sponsorship of the team for the first time in 24 years this winter. That’s another era, over.

Meanwhile, Merida will return to the peloton after last appearing in 2025 with Bahrain Victorious. The Taiwanese manufacturer owns a 35 percent stake in Specialized.

The partnering women’s team AG Insurance-Soudal will also switch from Specialized to Merida in 2027.

With the Quick-Step team off the books, Specialized will tighten its focus on its ongoing partnerships next year.

The California-based brand will continue to invest in its partnerships with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, FDJ United-Suez, SD Worx Protime, and the Specialized Factory Racing off-road superteam.

Demi Vollering, Remco Evenepoel, Keegan Swenson, and Lotte Kopecky will be among its biggest-name athletes going forward.

MTB star Kate Courtney will also ride Specialized on the road after she made her bombshell move to FDJ United-Suez this summer.

Tim Merlier won Quick-Step’s last race on a Specialized bike Sunday at the Eneco Tour. The Belgian super-sprinter gave his bike an affectionate tap after he blasted across the finish line.

“I think it is my 80th professional victory. I don’t know how many I have achieved on a Specialized [57 – ed.], but since I started riding this brand of bikes, I’ve achieved many victories,” Merlier said at the finish Sunday.

“I’m very proud that I can finish this season with a victory for Specialized,” he said.

It was a suitably winning end to one of the winningest, most recognizable partnerships in pro road racing.