"There was a little worry and even more astonishment" - Cyril Saugrain believes Belgium was in a state of fear over proposed Visma-Soudal merger

The proposed merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal - Quick-Step was the talk of the cycling world for weeks before everything fell apart. According the Cyril Saugrain, the primary emotion in Belgium was fear.

“Obviously, there was a little worry and even more astonishment, because this merger did not make sense, especially on a sporting level," the French-born former Tour de France stage winner told Cyclism'Actu. "In any case, it raised questions, it made the buzz. This is also the strength of social networks, things move so quickly, everyone takes advantage of it."

Despite the hype surrounding the potential merger, Saugrain never truly believed it would be possible for the deal to be completed. "In fact, we start to write lines about things which are perhaps just noises which are arrived by so-and-so. It would have been a big surprise to see Soudal Quick-Step disappear via a merger with the best team in the world," he explains.

"Now, I have the feeling that things are going to get back to normal. What's shocking is that we saw this merger happen a little out of nowhere. There, we had this feeling of two entities, which perhaps did not even have the same sporting ambitions two years ago, which would merge to make only one team, what about the riders and the WorldTour license which would remain on the floor."

"When we look at it from this angle, it can raise questions about the economic situation, the good health of the teams. We have known for a while that the sponsor Jumbo was going to withdraw, we imagine that they have found partners," he concludes. "I don't have too much fear about the good economic health of these big teams, but we shouldn't do anything. Because it's true that there, potentially, we are making one of the biggest teams in the world to merge two, it's pretty crazy when you think about it."