The possible merger of the two top teams Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-Quick Step could turn cycling upside down. An ex-professional now made a comparison to explain the scope of the deal.
“It would be as if Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were to merge,” Fabian Wegmann made clear in an interview with “t-online”. If Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-Quick Step actually join forces, “on paper” they would have the “best cycling team of all time”.
For the 43-year-old, too, the rumors about the cycling hammer came out of nowhere. “Until a few weeks ago, I thought something like this was absolutely impossible, but now it’s becoming clearer,” said the three-time German road racing champion.
The sporting director of the German tour meanwhile estimates that the merger will have drastic consequences. Jumbo-Visma will bring Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard and Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss into the team, Soudal-Quick Step has two-time world champions Julian Alaphilippe and Remco Evenepoel in its ranks.
Drastic consequences feared in cycling
According to Wegmann, such a density of superstars in one place is hardly conceivable; after all, there can only be one person who should win the Tour de France as captain. Top star Primoz Roglic is now anticipating the upheavals of the merger and is leaving Jumbo-Visma at the end of the season, possibly joining the German team Bora-hansgrohe.
In the ex-professional’s opinion, the consequences will be much greater for “the lesser-known drivers and the staff,” says Wegmann: “Especially at Quick Step, there are people who have been in this team for 30 years – no matter what the sponsor was called. For Of course it would be difficult.”
The background to the merger plans is that top team Jumbo-Visma is looking for a new sponsor, as the supermarket chain Jumbo is leaving as the main sponsor after the 2024 season.