"There is a lot of damage and little result" - Soudal - Quick-Step chairman blames Jumbo-Visma for merger's collapse

Despite much conversation, rumour and questions, the proposed merger between Soudal - Quick-Step and Jumbo-Visma will not take place. According to the chairman of the Belgian team, Bessel Kok, the blame for the collapse lies with Jumbo-Visma.

"They talked about 2024. That date was not possible at all. How was it possible that the two larger teams in the entire world were talking about a period of a few weeks?" Kok questions in an open conversation about the merger with HLN. "It was a very complex project. If you want to do such a merger, you have to start a year in advance. All those things should have been written down in advance."

According to the 81-year-old, the merger was of much more necessity to Jumbo-Visma than his own team. "I think there was greater haste at Jumbo-Visma than at Bakala. I can imagine that Richard Plugge will be forced to find formulas to accommodate Jumbo's departure," he explains. "He has a number of top riders with multi-year contracts. He leads one of the biggest cycling teams in the world and he faces the same problems as all cycling teams. Cycling is financially very shaky. Plugge looked at it entirely from a financial point of view."

"It eventually broke down in the Netherlands. A problem has arisen with the Dutch sponsor Pon. They were not amused , I'm sure. And then: boom!, it was over,” concludes the chairman. "There is a lot of damage and little result. Those guys on the bike and the staff have lived in total uncertainty for a number of weeks. They are employees. I'm not advocating a socialist approach, but it all happened over their heads and no one said anything."