Rumors have been rife for a few days now that the two racing teams Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step are about to merge in order to dominate cycling as a “super team” in the future. A development that does not find support everywhere.
Already in the 2024 season, Jumbo-Visma from the Netherlands, i.e. the racing team that will host the winner of the Giro d’Italia (Primoz Roglic), the winner of the Tour de France (Jonas Vingegaard) and the triumphant of the Vuelta (Sepp Kuss) in 2023 as well as Soudal Quick-Step from Belgium, together with the superstars Julian Alaphilippe, Kasoer Asgren, Fabio Jacobsen and Remco Evenpoel. The renowned specialist portal “Wielerflits”, the Danish broadcaster “TV2” and the Belgian newspaper “Het Laatste Nieuws” reported on this project, among others.
The “GCN” portal has now published a letter that gives fuel to speculation. In it, Jumbo Visma team boss Patrick Lefevre addresses his drivers and confirms “ongoing discussions with various parties”. However, there are currently no “concrete plans”.
What might sound appealing to many cycling fans is, however, not only met with love.
Driver appears “shocked”
An unnamed driver from the team appeared “shocked” on “GCN” and asked: “If you think logically, we don’t have any free squad positions at Jumbo for next year. How can you combine 15 drivers with Quick-Step now? […] I also don’t know why the two best teams should merge. What is the reason?”
Lefevre is said to have previously instructed the athletes not to speak to the media.
There is also criticism from the now retired former world champion Philippe Gilbert, who in turn pedaled for Soudal Quick-Step for two years. The Belgian took the plans seriously on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
“A merger between Decolef [die Betreibergesellschaft von Soudal Quick-Step, d.Red.] and Richard Plugge’s team [Teamchef Jumbo-Visma, d.Red.] would have catastrophic consequences for the economy of professional cycling,” Gilbert says, lacking any euphoria.
Gilbert initially left open what he specifically denounced. However, it is obvious that there is a risk of losing a lot of the excitement on the World Tour.