Soudal - Quick-Step seems to have it's days counted. It looks more and more likely that the Belgian team will dissolve at the end of either the 2023 or 2024 season, but it now appears as if Patrick Lefevere is working on a creation of a new team that could take in riders and staff that don't immediately find a contract.
Details of the situation are quite vague, however Het Laatste Nieuws reports that this project is being worked on. It supports the theory that the Belgian team could be at the end of the road - with a team gathering recently cancelled, but simultaneously it comes as good news for riders and staff who are likely to be hurt by this situation.
Patrick Lefevere has adressed that he wanted to leave the sport, but I never believed he'd do so at the cost of riders and staff. Bakala has 80% of SQS ownership, Lefevere 20%, so Lefevere probably didn't have much say in the merger discussion I would guess.
According to this report Patrick Lefevere is working on a team that would absorb riders and staff not making the move to the merger team hln.be/wielrennen/nie…
