The merger of the two professional cycling teams Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty is getting closer. Shortly before the deadline, the corresponding merger plan was submitted to the UCI. However, numerous questions remain unanswered.
Several months ago, the two cycling teams Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty announced that they wanted to merge for the 2026 season and compete as one team under the name Lotto-Intermarché. This week the necessary documents for the merger and obtaining the ProTour license were submitted to the UCI – shortly before the deadline on October 15th, as the Belgian newspaper “Het Laatste Nieuws” reports.
However, this is only one step taken, because there are still countless question marks surrounding the new team. One of them concerns the financial status quo of the Intermarché-Wanty team. According to “Het Laatste Nieuws”, this has accumulated a loss of 2.5 million euros in the till.
Cycling team sells inventory
In order to compensate for this deficit, several measures should be taken. Part of this will be covered by selling the team vehicles, the team bus, some team bikes and laying off employees. At Lotto, some employees had already been laid off as a result of the merger – this fate now also threatens the employees of Intermarché-Wanty.
After all: thanks to a bank guarantee and various sponsorship contracts, the UCI requirements for a start in the 2026 season have already been met.
Many professional cyclists fear for their future
It is still completely unclear what personnel composition the team will have at the start in 2026. As of today, it is assumed that 17 Lotto drivers and 14 Intermarché drivers will initially form a 31-strong squad. However, the UCI limit is 30 riders per team.
This is one of the reasons why, according to the Belgian newspaper, many drivers do not yet know how or whether things will continue for them. Currently affected are Reuben Thompson, Lorenz Van de Wynkele and Baptiste Veistroffer (all Lotto) as well as Kamiel Bonneu, Dries De Pooter and Dion Smith (Intermarché), who could theoretically fall victim to the merger. Whether sprint star Biniam Girmay will remain in the new team is also unclear.