Specialized Bikes Is Leaving Team Quick-Step

Updated April 17, 2026 08:10AM

Specialized and Quick-Step. It’s like beers and frites, peanut butter and jelly, cobbles and bergs.

One of cycling’s most iconic and long-running relationships is getting a divorce.

As first reported by Daniel Benson on his Substack and separately verified by Wielerflits, the contract between the California-based bike behemoth and the grizzled Belgian “Wolf Pack” won’t be renewed in 2027.

Soudal Quick-Step will instead ride Merida bikes in 2027, marking its first season without Specialized and its leading S-Works models since 2011.

Neither Specialized nor Quick Step has confirmed the reports, and Velo received only a telling “no comment” when we enquired with the team.

“We have a contract with Specialized until the end of the year. We have nothing more to say,” a team spokesperson said Thursday.

The fastest marriage in the bunch

Specialized and Quick-Step have been together a total of 17 years – from 2007 to 2009, and 2012 to the present.

Their split will mark the end of an era. It also says much about the priorities of sponsors with the power of choice.

Superstar riders like Tom Boonen, Philippe Gilbert, Mark Cavendish, and Remco Evenepoel won monuments, grand tours, and Tour de France stages on Quick-Step’s Specialized bikes.

The Flemish team made the U.S. brand the winningest in the bunch as the “Wolf Pack” gobbled up all the classics and sprints of the mid-2010s.

Rival squads looked on with envy at the Specialized Tarmac, Roubaix, and Venge rocketships that were widely hailed as the fastest, stiffest, and sleekest.

The Californian brand doesn’t waste R&D budgets that only Trek or Giant could match.

No Remco, no go?

It followed cycling celebrity Peter Sagan from team Tinkoff to Bora and finally to TotalEnergies. The retired Slovak still barrels around on bikes provided to him as part of an ongoing personal partnership.

The Dutchwoman insisted FDJ Suez shift from Lapierre to the U.S. brand when she left SD Worx Protime.

Management at SD Worx must be thankful that Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Weibes command the clout to keep Specialized at its side.

And on the other side of the coin, Specialized has the heft to bring big stars to them.

Gravel GOAT Keegan Swenson was lured to Specialized Factory Racing when his Santa Cruz htSQD team shuttered, and the brand reportedly bankrolled Cavendish’s return to Quick-Step in 2021.

It’s understood that Evenepoel’s exit this winter to rival Specialized team Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe marked a tipping point in the long and lucrative relationship between “Spesh” and Quick-Step.

Evenepoel is hell-bent on winning the Tour de France, and Red Bull has the viral hype and scientific resources to make it a dream partnership. If there’s dollar to invest, invest it there.

Soudal Quick-Step’s 2026 leaders Tim Merlier, Jasper Stuyven, and Paul Magnier have the willing potential but none of the beyond-the-sport allure of Remco, Tommeke, or Cav.

The retirement of long-time CEO Patrick Lefevere at the end of 2024 no doubt weakened ties, also.

Merida is back

Quick-Step’s reported move to Merida next year seems off-key, but is perhaps a no-brainer.

The Taiwanese brand owns a significant stake in Specialized and manufactures some of its frames. And it’s clearly got sponsorship budget to blow, because it’s not currently in the WorldTour.

Merida’s partnership with the Bahrain team franchise came to a close when Bahrain-Victorious switched to Bianchi this winter.

So make the most of seeing Specialized bikes in Quick-Step’s signature bold blue. You won’t be seeing them looking like that for much longer.

Specialized Bikes Is Leaving Team Quick-Step – Here's Why It Matters

The fastest marriage in the bunch

No Remco, no go?

Merida is back