Former Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif Brian Holm thinks team boss Patrick Lefevere "wants" the potential merger between the Belgian squad and Jumbo-Visma to happen, but doesn’t believe it’s a good idea due to the negative implications for the riders involved.
If the possible merger reported first by WielerFlits on Sunday were to come into fruition, Lefevere is reportedly expected to stay involved but as a member of the new team's Supervisory Board, with Jumbo-Visma managing director Richard Plugge taking up the mantle as CEO.
"I think that Patrick [Lefevere] wants it to happen. Because he wants to retire and have less to do," said Holm to the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet. "He has told me that on several occasions."
Lefevere has been managing cycling teams since the 1980s and has been one of the most successful people in the sport’s history since then, but he is approaching retirement at 68 years old.
Holm did state that he was in the dark about the reported merger's status, with nothing yet confirmed, but did explain how talks between teams have been ongoing for some time with more than just Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep involved.
“What it ends up with, I don't know,” said Holm. “Your answer is as good as mine, but there is no doubt that there are some teams talking to each other right now.
“It's not just Jumbo and QuickStep. Ineos Grenadiers and Movistar have also done it, I know.”
Lefevere gave no comment on the merger when questioned by Sporza after the news broke, and communication between him and the team was reported by GCN yesterday where the Belgian tried to calm the speculation down in a letter which stated: "Contrary to reports, however, there are no concrete projects and plans at this moment."
The 68-year-old is no stranger to mergers in the sport as his role at Soudal-QuickStep was born out of various teams ceasing to exist, absorbing each other and merging at the end of the 90s and Holm added how close this was to happening again when he joined the side, making him easily imagine the merger materialising.
“When I myself joined QuickStep in 2012, the team should have been put together with HTC, where I came from, and it was also millimetres away from being called HTC QuickStep,” said Holm.
“I remember that Patrick was then satisfied with the details of that agreement because he actually wanted to retire, and it has been over 10 years now, but he had no problem with not being a team owner.
"He lived well with a board position, and he has actually wanted that ever since."
Holm’s opposition to a merger comes in defence of riders' peace of mind. The complexity that comes with such a big deal could put them into difficult positions without knowledge of where their future career will take them.
When asked if he thought it was a good idea, the Dane simply replied: “No I do not think so. Because there are a lot of riders who do not have an agreement in place for next season. They go and wait to see what happens.
“Every time rumours like these start, there are many riders who don't sleep so well at night.”
There are currently 50 riders under contract for 2024 between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep which obviously doesn’t add up to the limit of 30 on a team. That would mean a full roster worth of riders could be at risk with no guarantee of WorldTour racing if the merger happens – not to mention the uncertainty for all staff that don’t end up at the merged team.
The reports have re-ignited the rumour mill with riders such as Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič at the head of much of the speculation as the two teams joining could free up contracts and allow them to move should they want to, but any new ‘mega-team’ that might form would of course want to keep such big stars.
