Merijn Zeeman, who is regarded by many in cycling as a key figure behind the transformation of Jumbo Visma to world beaters in recent years, has said the talks about a merger with Soudal-QuickStep were only ever exploratory, even though they involved Remco Evenepoel.
The Dutch sports director added his team has now secured attractive new sponsors, meaning the merger is no longer in the offing and that Jumbo Visma will have the money to be able to expand next year and beyond.
His remarks confirm what many had believed; the Dutch team has found a new backer to replace Jumbo supermarkets, ensuring its financial future and meaning it not longer needs to look to an idea like a merger with another World Tour squad. Instead, it was now entering a “new chapter” as a strong unit despite the exit of Primož Roglič, who the team was “eternally grateful” to.
“We want to continue making history over the next ten years and I can say that after the wonderful time with Jumbo, we are entering a new chapter,” Zeeman told Het Nieuwsblad. He added team boss Richard Plugge, commercial manager Sander Kruis, and team co-founer, Robert van der Wallen, had worked very hard to bring in new backers.
“A number of very nice companies have committed to this team. It is now certain that we can continue to build on this team in the coming years. Am I saying that the future is assured? Yes absolutely, although I can’t go into details.”
He confirmed Jumbo Visma had been negotiating with Soudal-QuickStep about a merger “but that was more exploratory”.
“We also sat down with Remco Evenepoel, but it was also exploratory with him. What suits our team best, what ambitions, how realistic is it, the advantages and disadvantages, does it make us better or not? This has been investigated by a number of people. We have constantly informed everyone within the team about the state of affairs throughout this process.”
Zeeman added while the team had won all three Grand Tours this year, it wanted to plug the gap in its achievements by winning monuments. But this would take a lot of work. He also pointed out Wout van Aert had already won Milan-Sanremo and had been very unlucky to puncture while leading Paris-Roubaix in the closing stages with eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel.
Zeeman also believed Olav Kooij, the young Dutch sprinter with 12 wins this year, would be an important rider going forward, saying he would definitely make his Grand Tour debut next year as part of a multi-year plan for him.
“That boy is having a great season with great sprint victories, but also places of honor, showing that he can do more. His 8th place in Gent-Wevelgem, 2nd place behind Dylan van Baarle during the national road championships and bronze during the European Championships.”
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