Sven Nys states on the Belgian television program De Afspraak that Patrick Lefevere cannot control the potential merger between his team, Soudal-Quick Step, and Jumbo-Visma. The Belgian analyst sees Lefevere leaving cycling in a disappointing manner.
“Patrick Lefevere really isn’t in control to make decisions in this merger story. To a certain extent, this game is being played over his head. If you read his column in Het Nieuwsblad, he himself is also asking for answers. You can read that between the lines. I can imagine this will cause tensions,” says Nys.
Nys looks at the current base of cyclists and notes that prominent athletes on the team don’t know what will happen to them in 2024. “Lampaert, Asgreen, Alaphilippe, Van Lerberghe, they are all good cyclists in great uncertainty. Imagine if Lefevere were to say, ‘this merger won’t happen, we’ll continue with the cyclists we have.’ Then he has a lot of work to get the team back on track. I don’t know if he still has the energy to start that,” he added.
Watch the interview: