The Dutch media is reporting Jumbo Visma is set to merge with Soudal-QuickStep as soon as next year. Under the new structure being claimed by the reports, the key management personnel at each team would have a role in the merged entity, though the new position for Soudal-QuickStep boss, Patrick Lefevere (68), would involve a step back.
The merger would also mean Remco Evenepoel - assuming he does not go to Ineos Grenadiers - would be in the same team as Grand Tour champions Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Sepp Kuss, not to mention Wout van Aert. The merger, the reports state, has been a secret inside pro cycling, though talks about the deal have been ongoing for several months and, it is claimed, are well advanced.
The new team would be called Visma-Soudal or Soudal-Visma and the two main sponsors of the teams for 2024 - Visma and Soudal - are said to be on board with the idea of the two teams becoming one. With Jumbo Visma set to lose Jumbo supermarkets as a backer, it is claimed the merger will put the new team on a very strong financial footing going forward in a bid to compete with richer teams, Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates.
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Dutch media outlet WielerFlits is reporting Jumbo Visma chief executive, Richard Plugge, would be CEO of the new merged entity while the man credited with much of Jumbo Visma's performance success, Merijn Zeeman, would be head coach in the new team.
Current Soudal-QuickStep team boss, Patrick Lefevere, would become a member of the team’s supervisory board, which would be a step back from day-to-day management in pro cycling after decades as a team boss.
"The moment it became clear during the last Tour de France that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe was in talks to take over Patrick Lefevere’s team, the idea of talking to Zdenek Bakala, owner of Soudal Quick-Step, arose among the Jumbo-Visma management," WielerFlits states.
More to come.
