The story surrounding the merger of cycling teams Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep is becoming more concrete by the day. But what about the riders who do not get a place in the new merger team? And what about Remco Evenepoel’s Tour ambitions? We ask sports journalist Hans Vandeweghe.
Good morning Hans, what should we make of the news about the merger between Soudal-QuickStep and Jumbo-Visma?
“The merger itself remains very strange. I’ve had contact with two QuickStep riders, and they both think it’s crazy. This will be no different at Jumbo-Visma. This is a commercial story. These two teams have sponsors who are not big enough themselves, and therefore want to come together to achieve more.
“But many mysteries still remain. There are many different scenarios. Or this is a move by Zdenek Bakala (the big boss of Soudal-QuickStep) who wants to get rid of those Belgians and finally win the Tour. Another option is that Jumbo, which is in difficult circumstances, approached Bakala itself. That could be calculated, or completely coincidental. Think of it as an affair between two people and you don’t know: is this a fad or great love? And only later does it become clear who the biggest victims are. We’ll only know the details about this in a few weeks, when everyone starts talking.
“The weak element in this story is Jumbo-Visma, which has a problem with the main sponsor. Jumbo still has a contract until the end of 2024, but is in dire straits: the top of that company is accused of money laundering. Jumbo would therefore like to get out earlier.”
How concrete is this whole story now? Where are the conversations? There was supposed to be clarity last Monday, but that has not been forthcoming for the time being.
“The fact that Patrick Lefevere (the manager of Soudal-QuickStep) first says that we would know more on Monday but in the end nothing comes, shows that he has no say in this. They are Bakala and Richard Plugge (the big boss at Jumbo-Visma) who conduct the conversations. Lefevere then starts talking about a kind of relief team for the riders and support staff who cannot join the merger team, which would still leave him with his own team.
“That will be a small team. The B team: that would be the perception. That’s terrible for those riders. One month they are part of ‘The Wolfpack’, and after a small report in the press the wolves scatter in all directions.
“I think it has gotten a bit out of hand, and Lefevere has no control over it anymore. Lefevere is known for being a man of his word. When he says he will do everything he can to respect his staff’s contracts, I believe him. But this is not the exit he wanted.”
Do you see Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard riding in one team? What then about Evenepoel’s Tour ambitions?
“That might work well for one year, if Evenepoel comes along. There is still a lot of uncertainty as to whether the riders are still bound by their contract paying agent changes. According to some, the riders would be free in that case. But it may also be that Evenepoel is obliged to terminate his contract. Although I don’t see Evenepoel and Vingegaard working in one team for years.
“To outline the difference between Evenepoel and the Jumbo-Vismas, you have to look at the opening stage of the Vuelta. They all had to ride in apocalyptic conditions, and the Jumbo-Visma riders lost half a minute, but they remained quite calm. Evenepoel, on the other hand, started to breeze. If Evenepoel goes to Jumbo, it will be like a pincer to a pig, in terms of culture. He comes across as an attention seeker, and that is not in the dictionary at Jumbo-Visma. Theirs is the motto ‘there’s no I in team’, while Evenepoel is more of the gist ‘Me, myself and I’ is.”
Will this new merger team become the top team in the classics?
“That team would always be the team to beat. That would be a team the likes of which has never existed in modern cycling. If Evenepoel moves there, they will have a team for all seasons. In the cobbled classics they have a few riders who can score incredibly, with Van Aert and Christophe Laporte, in the sloped classics and the Italian classics they have Evenepoel. In the big tours they have Vingegaard and Evenepoel, in the time trial Evenepoel and Van Aert. They would be favorites everywhere. When those two teams come together with all their best riders. If that happens.”
When should there be clarity about this? It is already October 5, the preparation for 2024 is almost starting.
“The international cycling union UCI should be informed on October 19. But that’s not a hard deadline. The UCI can hardly say to Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep: ‘We exclude you’. With Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Evenepoel, three of the best riders in the world ride there.
“But of course this cannot last. The riders and the management want clarity. Normally, internships take place during this period, and new teammates get to know each other better. Now there is a lot of nervousness. They are essentially being held hostage. Even Wout van Aert does not know what is happening and lives in uncertainty. His trainer, Marc Lamberts, is already leaving. And who will he have as teammates next year? He would like Yves Lampaert from QuickStep to succeed Nathan Van Hooydonck, who unfortunately has to retire.”
That nervousness was also evident in the words of Soudal-QuickStep rider Ilan Van Wilder, who said earlier this week that they ‘don’t want this shit’.
“That was very remarkable: a young guy who has many possibilities, who does not weigh his words but simply says clearly what he feels. Van Wilder is known as a great talent, if he is released, everyone would want him. Jumbo-Visma certainly wants that, because Vingegaard’s current lieutenants, such as Wilco Kelderman, are all gradually getting older, and there is not immediately anyone younger available.
“QuickStep has the future, with Van Wilder, Evenepoel and also a Mauri Vansevenant. QuickStep has the youth, the talent. The only problem that team had was a budget that was a bit too small.
“I really don’t know whether that merger will be completed. They have put themselves in an incredible situation. In a well-managed sport this would not be possible. But cycling is not well managed. The UCI is a toothless mammal.”
Suppose the merger is not completed. What happens then?
“A possible scenario is that both teams will not meet until the end of 2024, so with a year’s delay. That would not be feasible in practice. To compare it again with a love affair: everyone in the platoon would then be aware of the adultery. Everyone would know that those two sleep together at night but are apart during the day. Would one team still drive behind the other, knowing that they will form one team the following year? In this story, cycling collides with all its limitations.
“If it doesn’t work out at all, and the merger talks fail completely, it will lead to envy between the riders of those two teams. They will not grant each other anything during the race.”
