cycling events in the world on SBS On Demand Jumbo-Visma have reportedly ended takeover talks with Soudal-QuickStep, as the Dutch team now have higher hopes of securing a new long-term sponsor. After over two weeks of speculation, Jumbo-Visma riders and staff were reportedly told on Friday that the proposed merger was suddenly off as the team were preparing for Saturday’s Il Lombardia in Italy.
Patrick Lefevere and Czech billionaire Zdenek Bakala remain owners of Soudal-QuickStep, who will apparently exist as a WorldTour team through the end of 2025, with the cancelled merger meaning Evenepoel remains under contract with them until 2026. "We are satisfied that everything remains the same. We still want to win the Tour de France with Remco Evenepoel," said Soudal CEO Dirk Coorevits.