In an article published on The Outer Line website, Richard Plugge, the manager of the Jumbo-Visma team, shares his view on the cause of the failure of the team merger project. He notes that the team was already aware of Jumbo’s intention to withdraw after the year 2024, and the team had time to engage in discussions with various stakeholders about the possibility of finding a suitable replacement.
UCI played a decisive role in the final decision.
Plugge reveals that he spoke with the people behind Soudal Quick-Step, such as Zdenek Bakala. However, it proved to be very difficult to make everything flow seamlessly.
“One of the reasons was that after our discussions with the UCI, we concluded that there was no good solution for both teams. We didn’t want either team to be left in the dark.”
Interest from Amazon in sponsoring Jumbo-Visma remains.
Plugge states that new and existing partners filled the gap that arose. He has not confirmed whether Pon (the company behind the mentioned new sponsor Lease a Bike and Cervélo) will take on a larger role in 2024.
Amazon was also mentioned as a new sponsor, but this was later denied. However, Plugge indicates that Amazon “continues to show interest” in the cycling team.
