{"id":194003,"date":"2023-09-27T16:24:23","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T16:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=194003"},"modified":"2023-09-27T16:24:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T16:24:23","slug":"jumbo-visma-soudal-quickstep-merger-would-transform-worldtour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/09\/27\/jumbo-visma-soudal-quickstep-merger-would-transform-worldtour\/","title":{"rendered":"Jumbo-Visma, Soudal-QuickStep Merger Would Transform WorldTour"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cycling transfer market, and the entire sport as well, has been shaken in recent days by reports in multiple publications of a possible merger between the WorldTour teams Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep, to create what would be a super-team capable, at first glance, of monopolizing both Grand Tours and one-day Classics. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The rumors were confirmed Sunday in a report<\/a> in WielerFlits<\/em> that relied on several anonymous sources, according to whom current Jumbo-Visma head Richard Plugge will become CEO of the new team, Jumbo\u2019s sports director Merijn Zeeman becomes head coach and Soudal\u2019s chief Patrick Levefere is to be a member of the team\u2019s Supervisory Board.<\/p>\n

But it is the fates of the two team\u2019s 50 combined riders that is of even greater interest, especially those of this year\u2019s Giro d\u2019Italia winner Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d, who has reportedly been wooed by several teams, and Soudal\u2019s young superstar Remco Evenepoel. Should the merger be finalized \u2013 and WielerFlits<\/em> reported that it is just a matter of time and ironing out a few details \u2013 then Rogli\u010d would almost surely leave Soudal-Visma (or Visma-Soudal).<\/p>\n

According to CyclingUptoDate<\/em><\/a>, four teams have already lined up with offers for the 33-year-old Slovenian and approached him during the recent Vuelta: Bahrain Victorious, Jayco AlUla, Lidl Trek and Movistar. Each of these teams is looking for a marquee rider who can bring them to the next level in Grand Tour racing, and Rogli\u010d certainly fits that bill, despite his age. His performance in the Giro and in the Vuelta this year, in which he finished a very strong third, proves that he is as good as he has ever been.<\/p>\n

\"Primo\u017e<\/a>
Where will Rogli\u010d be next year? \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for Evenepoel, if Soudal is swallowed up by Visma, it is also much more likely that this year\u2019s world time trial champion will jump ship as well. Frustrated in the two Grand Tours he entered in 2023 and not entirely happy with Soudal-QuickStep\u2019s lack of experienced Tour de France domestiques, the 23-year-old has reportedly been flirting with several teams. But he has been most strongly linked to an eventual move to Ineos Grenadiers, whose Grand Tour experience and deep pockets would be a great fit.<\/p>\n

In addition, it\u2019s difficult to see how a super-ambitious rider like Evenepoel could accept sharing the spotlight and the spoils with several teammates. He is currently the heart, soul and engine of Soudal-QuickStep. Could he really ride on a team that includes the two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard and a strong Classics rival in Wout van Aert? Put another way, would Vingegaard give up his Tour de France ambitions for Evenepoel, or vice versa? \u00a0No and no. As his father, Patrick Evenepoel, put it to Sporza<\/em><\/a>, \u201cWe are shocked, and so is Remco. We don\u2019t know anything. Remco Evenepoel together with Jonas Vingegaard, Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d, Sepp Kuss and Wout van Aert would be many leaders in one team.\u201d Too many<\/em> leaders is what he probably meant to say. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Evenepoel had already started packing his bags.<\/p>\n

One of the big transfers of this season so far has been the move by the 33-year-old Spaniard Mikel Landa from Bahrain Victorious to Soudal, brought in by Lefevere to give Evenepoel a top climber and experienced Grand Tour rider to support his Tour de France ambitions. This move made Bahrain Victorious immediately in need of a top rider and especially eager to sign Rogli\u010d. And a future Soudal-Visma team would have in Landa a very strong domestique to aid Vingegaard and Kuss, if the American wants to continue on his Grand Tour journey, started almost accidentally with his victory in this year\u2019s Vuelta.<\/p>\n

There are many questions that need to be answered before anything definitive can be said about next year\u2019s road racing competition. But it certainly looks as if the next few months will be busy ones for riders\u2019 agents and cycling journalists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cycling transfer market, and the entire sport as well, has been shaken in recent days by reports in multiple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":194004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[2718,794,648,1221,3544,7380],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-194003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-jumbo-visma","tag-mikel-landa","tag-patrick-lefevere","tag-primoz-roglic","tag-remco-evenepoel","tag-soudal-quickstep","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nJumbo-Visma, Soudal-QuickStep Merger Would Transform WorldTour<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The cycling transfer market, and the entire sport as well, has been shaken in recent days by reports in multiple publications of a possible merger between\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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