Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step are likely to join forces as rumors and possible details intensify. Oliver Naesen (Ag2r Citroën Team), who has just renewed his contract with the French team for 2 years, is friends with many cyclists from both teams and does not have a positive view of the merger. He denounces the dismissal of many cyclists and staff members.
“It’s not nice, of course. We’re losing a team, and there won’t be room for 30 riders and a hundred staff members. It will be a bloodbath, I think,” Naesen told the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. “I talk to the Quick-Step riders during races, but they really don’t know anything. They will have to hope that the ground isn’t pulled from under their feet at some point,” concludes the Belgian.
As it stands, it seems more than likely that if the deal is confirmed, it will largely be an improved version of Jumbo-Visma, as the team seeks to maintain the leadership structure while incorporating some cyclists and staff members from Soudal Quick-Step.