"It would be fantastic to get the best of the two worlds" - Arnaud de Lie on the potential Lotto-Intermarché merger

No matter how the stuation pans out, the merger of Lotto and Intermarché - Wanty will have a massive impact on the transfer market. If the plan indeed goes through, plenty talented riders will suddenly become available to sign. In the other scenario, many teams will be blaming themselves for missing out on some other names. There was a lot of fuss few months ago when the news came out but since, the situation has not become any clearer. Not for the outsiders, nor for riders themselves, it seems.

"It's difficult to say anything about it, but if we get the two best worlds from the two teams together, that would be a fantastic thing," Arnaud de Lie told WielerFlits. "But we'll see. I'm a cyclist; I just ride the bike."

Intermarché - Wanty are therefore likely to disappear at the end of the year as a team. The Belgian formation was projected to comfortably survive in WorldTour before this season, but the uncertainty of future combined with lackluster perforamnces saw the team of Biniam Girmay fall through to the 18th spot in the three-year UCI ranking, only just narrowly surviving in the cycling's prime division.

"Relegation isn't really being discussed. We're focusing on the plans we made at the start of the season. The atmosphere within the team is very good. It's never nice to hear those kinds of things about the team from outside," Girmay says, referring to the merger talks and the fight against relegation from the WorldTour. "But internally, the situation is good. There are riders with current contracts, and everyone is motivated to do their job."

The Eritrean has been previously linked with a move to Israel - Premier Tech. "We hear a lot of things, but for us it's simple. Around us, the merger is the talk, but for me, the goal is to win again this year. That counts, and that's what I'm paid for. It doesn't matter to me whether the team merges or not. […] What's especially unpleasant as a sprinter is not getting a single win in a season. That's what I'm still mainly looking for."

"I still have a running contract until the end of 2028," Girmay added. However that deal could end up nulled if the merger goes through. The newly-formed team would then have to renegotiate a contract with him, or the Eritrean could transfer to another team without any strings attached.

One of Girmay's regular helpers is Roel van Sintmaartensdijk, who made his Tour debut this summer. "I'm not that worried, but I hope it's finalized soon. They're working hard behind the scenes, but I'm just going to wait and see," the tall Dutchman sounded relatively comfortable in these uncertain times. "But it's going well and they're happy. I'm 'stuck' around Biniam, so once everything is finalized, it'll be fine."  

On the other end there is Henri Vandenabeele (Lotto) whose story at the current team seems to be about to end with the merger around the corner. "For me, that rules out Lotto from racing any further next year. The fact is that there are 43 riders under contract, and that number has to be reduced to 30. And once your contract is up, it becomes very difficult," he told WielerFlits.

It creates uncertainty. "You don't know anything, even for riders still under contract, it's quite uncertain and not very pleasant . The Intermarché - Wanty riders who aren't on board also don't know if it will go ahead. And as long as it's not a reality, they can't leave either. That's really annoying," says Vandenabeele. "There's very little communication about the merger. It's not easy to just arrange everything."