Plans for a mega merger of the Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep teams is off with multiple reports in Belgium saying Soudal-QuickStep will continue as a WorldTour team in 2025, with Patrick Lefevere and Czech billionaire Zdenek Bakala continuing to own the team.
That would mean Remco Evenepoel remains under contract with the team and avoids the fall out and loss of jobs for riders and staff that a merger or takeover would have caused.
Sporza and Het Nieuwsblad are among the outlets to report the news, which leaves Jumbo-Visma manager Richard Plugge still looking for a title sponsor for beyond 2024 when the Jumbo supermarket chain is due to end its backing.
Reports of a merger first emerged two weeks ago, with Lefevere confirming as much, with Soudal expected to join forces with Visma as title sponsors and just six riders from the current Soudal-QuickStep move across to Plugge’s team alongside Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert.
However the teams faced a race against time to complete the legally complex deal and register with the UCI for the 2024 season, with dismay in the sport for the loss of a hugely successful team.
In the last few days it appeared Lefevere would try to keep his team alive. Now the whole deal appears to have collapsed.
More to follow.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…