Everything seems very calm at the headquarters of Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step since it was known on Sunday night that the two teams are in discussions for a merger in 2024. On Monday night, an email leaked that Patrick Lefevere sent to his riders and staff. In it, he confirms that “we have had discussions with several teams.”
Brian Holm, sports director of Soudal Quick-Step until last year, thinks Lefevere wants a merger. “He has told me more than once that he wants to retire,” the Dane told the Copenhagen newspaper Ekstra Bladet. However, Holm does not believe that such a mega-merger is a good idea due to the far-reaching consequences for the cyclists involved.
“There are many cyclists who still do not have agreements for the next season. They go and wait to see what happens. Whenever rumors of this kind circulate, many cyclists do not sleep well at night.”
INEOS and Movistar also negotiated
Holm does not know how this saga will end, but according to him, there is no doubt that talks are indeed taking place between the two superpowers. “It’s not just Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step that are talking. I know that INEOS Grenadiers and Movistar have also done it.”
HTC – Quick-step
Ten years ago, there was almost a merger between Quick-Step and HTC. “The team was supposed to merge with HTC, where I came from, in 2012. It was close to being called HTC QuickStep.”
“I remember Patrick being happy with the details of the deal at the time because he actually wanted to retire. That was over ten years ago, but he had no problem not being the owner of a team anymore. He was fine with a board position, and he’s wanted that ever since,” Brian Holm concludes, suggesting that if the merger goes through, Patrick Lefevere will finally achieve the role in a World Tour team that he has wanted for a long time.