Three years ago, there was a big discussion about Tom Boonen's leadership role among the Board of Directors of Omega Pharma-Quick Step. According to manager Patrick Lefevere, sponsor Frans De Cock eventually was the one who defended Boonen with tooth and nail. One year later Boonen won all the big classics.

Lefevere revealed the discussion in an interview with De Morgen. In the same interview, he claims to operate with a budget of 16-20 million euros which is similar to BMC's. According to the Belgian, Sky has a budget of 30 million euros. "Real Madrid has a budget of 550 million euros. That's more than the combined budget of all professional cycling teams."