We talked with @IlanWilder after the race to know his thoughts on the win he got after riding away from a group featuring Grand Tour and Monuments winners.
"The team feels like family, so that would mean splitting half of my family" - Fabio Jakobsen shares his disappointment about merger
CyclingWednesday, 04 October 2023 at 02:30
Although Ilan Van Wilder won the Tre Valli Seresine in a spectacular way, the 23-year-old Belgian was mainly 'busy' in the flash interview with expressing his bile about the possible upcoming merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step. Van Wilder indicated that he spoke on behalf of several riders from Soudal Quick-Step. Fabio Jakobsen, who will leave The Wolfpack after this season, also appears not to be a fan of the merger.
"Many people see two top teams and that should become one great team. But I think there are at least 150 people in both organizations. If you merge two teams, you have to split them in half. Because you can't suddenly go out with twelve soigneurs or mechanics when you normally have six," says the Dutchman in front of the NOS camera.
Jakobsen will move from Soudal Quick-Step to DSM-firmenich on January 1, 2024, although he is certainly still concerned with the merger issues. "The team feels like family, so that would mean splitting half of my family. That is never pleasant, but life is not always pleasant, I know all about that. I'm not going to experience it, because I'm already gone anyway. But I do look at it with a bit of pain in my stomach," he expresses sympathy.
"The advantage of joining together is that it becomes a super strong team. The disadvantage is that half of them are on the street or have to find another team," Jakobsen concludes after Binche-Chimay-Binche, where he finished 49th. "I wonder if it's all worth it. Both teams have such a history and different legend in terms of record. I think it will be very special to put them together."
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