Despite much discussion, speculation, and uncertainty, the merger proposal between Soudal-Quick-Step and Jumbo-Visma will not materialize. As stated by the president of the Belgian team, Bessel Kok, the responsibility for the collapse lies entirely with Jumbo-Visma.
“They talked about 2024. That date was not possible at all. How could the two biggest teams in the world be discussing a span of years in just a few weeks?” Kok questions in an open conversation about the merger with the Belgian site Het Laatste Nieuws.
“It was a very complex project. If you want to do such a merger, you should start a year in advance. All these things should have been noted in advance.”
According to the 81-year-old coach, the merger was much more necessary for Jumbo-Visma than for his own team. “I think there was more haste at Jumbo-Visma than at Bakala’s team (Zdenek Bakala, the team’s major shareholder). I can imagine that Richard Plugge will be forced to find formulas to accommodate the departures from Jumbo,” he explains.
“He has several top riders with multi-year contracts. He leads one of the biggest teams in the world and faces the same problems as all cycling teams. Cycling is financially very unstable. Plugge looked at it entirely from a financial point of view.”
“It all blew up in the Netherlands. There was an issue with the Dutch sponsor Pon. They didn’t find it amusing, I’m sure. And then, boom!, it was over,” the president concludes.
A lot of damage and little result. The riders and the entire team lived in complete uncertainty for several weeks. They are employees. I’m not advocating for a socialist approach, but everything happened above their heads, and no one said anything,” Bessel Kok concludes.