Breaking Down the Primož Roglič Bora Signing & the Failed Jumbo-Visma/Soudal-Quickstep ‘Merger'
Plus, previewing Saturday's Il Lombardia, which features a clash of the climbing titans at the final major road race of the 2023 season
Just a week after I attempted to unspoil the logic behind the rumored Jumbo-Visma/Soudal-QuickStep mega-merger, it appears that the partnership has come undone and that the two top teams will contest the 2024 season as separate organizations.
Why Is This Happening?
Considering that the ‘merger’ started to look more like simple sponsor recruitment (via Soudal) on the part of Jumbo-Visma in recent days, it isn’t entirely shocking that the deal has fallen through and Jumbo-Visma management has decided to pursue less complicated funding from other sources.
After all, the optics of Jumbo-Visma bringing on Soudal as a sponsor were never going to be positive, especially with Soudal-QuickStep Team Principal Patrick Lefevere, the majority of Soudal-QuickStep riders who wouldn’t have made the cut to jump to Jumbo, all making statements, and supported by the UCI (who released a sternly-worded letter earlier this week warning the potential combined team that wages for all riders and staff with contracts for 2024 would still need to be paid), that they were going to attempt to continue the QuickStep team in 2024 even after Soudal bolted for the door. Can you imagine the never-ending rivalry narrative that would have emerged between the two teams had this happened, especially if QuickStep outperformed Jumbo at the major one-day Classics?
What We Know
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