Arnaud De Lie and Biniam Girmay could wear same outfit next season - Massive merger is on the horizon!

Whereas teams like UAE Team Emirates - XRG seem to have a virtually unlimited budget, the situation is different at the other bottom of WorldTour ranking. Financial struggles are also what brought together two would-be Belgian WorldTour teams Intermarché - Wanty and Lotto towards the end of the 2025 season.

In an attempt to build a competitive team for the future, the formations are looking into possibility to merge in 2026. "We're working on this agreement," Jose De Cauwer explained during Sporza TV broadcast of stage 12. "It's not a rumor, because the intention is for both teams to merge."

With nearly 100 riders scattered across main and development teams and no less staff members, there are many technicalities that need to be overcome before any merger can take place though: "There's still a lot to be sorted out. Think of the bicycle brands, the service course, ... But both teams are facing financial difficulties and need funding to be WorldTour-worthy and viable. They've found each other and will now work this out further."

In all this, there is a simple conclusion - there will be one less Belgian team at the highest level of cycling next year - and that's with traditional PRT team Flanders - Baloise also facing possible disbanding as the local government of Vlaanderen will not support the formation beyond 2026.

A natural turn of events, De Cauwer thinks: "Yes, but in this peloton, you have to meet even more incredible demands than before. There's so much involved in terms of support. It almost costs more than the cycling team itself."

This merger would leave many riders without a team next year - something that can't be helped in such scenario. But if you're already trying to figure out how would the dynamics between two star sprinters Arnaud De Lie and Biniam Girmay work - you might not need to. The Eritrean in particular appears to be in talks with mutliple teams. In particular, XDS Astana indicated strong interest.