"Jumbo hates Remco and Remco hates Jumbo, that's not going to work, is it?" - Geraint Thomas doubts whether groundbreaking merger is viable

Geraint Thomas has had his fair share of battles with both Jumbo-Visma and Soudal - Quick-Step over the course of his career. With news breaking recently of a possible groundbreaking merger between the two, the Welshman has expressed his doubts.

“I didn't know, you only told me just before we went online," says a shocked Thomas on his Watts Occurring podcast alongside INEOS Grenadiers teammate, Luke Rowe. "Poah, the only thing I would say is: Jumbo hates Remco and Remco hates Jumbo, that's not going to work, is it? You should hear what Roglic says about Remco. I don't want to start rumours, but I'm just saying."

The possibility of Evenepoel joining up with the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Sepp Kuss would make a formidable opponent for Thomas but in truth, Jumbo-Visma alone are proving incredibly difficult to overcome, even without the addition of Soudal - Quick-Step's top riders.

"Why would Jumbo even want that, they just won the three Grand Tours? But how can you not find a sponsor? They have won the Tour twice, dominated this season, have the best riders..." continues Thomas. "If two teams merge, half the jobs will be lost. You can only have the maximum number of riders, and you're not going to hire twenty soigneurs. That would be sad too."