Jumbo-Visma Team Manager Richard Plugge revealed that the highly anticipated merger/acquisition of the Soudal-QuickStep team did not happen "for a number of reasons."UCI seems to be using some kind of moral appeal to stop the deal and avoid the possibility of the demise of 1 team.

Plugge declined to confirm that his 2024 team would be known as Visma-Lease A Bike, but told The Outer Line newsletter that there is "ongoing interest" in some sort of deal with Amazon.The e-commerce brand said there was a "continuing interest" in some sort of deal with Amazon, despite reports that it was or was offering "media value" rather than cash because of their involvement, perhaps through documentaries. Jumbo-Visma ended the merger/acquisition on the eve of Il Lombardia in early May, when it realized that a complex plan to consolidate 2 teams is no longer the best option.10

Plugge has so far failed to land a global brand that was hoping to make the team even higher, but has reportedly received financial support from Pon, a Dutch conglomerate that owns Visma and bike sponsor Cervelo, leases bikes and has a turnover of 10 billion euros. It is a great place to start your day.

In late May 9, when the Dutch website Wielerflits revealed that negotiations had begun at the end of the Tour de France, a frenzy of reports emerged of a possible merger/acquisition of Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep.

However, the merger is technically impossible under uci rules, with Jumbo-Visma taking over the sponsorship of Soudal, adding Remco Evenepeol to the roster and allowing Primoš Roglić to terminate the contract and join Bora-Hansgrohe.

The remnants of the Soudal-QuickStep team were either sold to ProTeam trying to step up to WorldTour levels or forced riders and staff to look for new jobs.

Plugge briefly spoke to the Outer Line newsletter, which focuses on professional cycling governance and business, that UCI was involved behind the scenes and raised concerns about mergers/acquisitions.

"The discussions didn't work out for a number of reasons," Plugge told Soudal, along with team manager Patrick Lefevere. -He spoke about a meeting with Zdenek Bakala, the owner of QuickStep.

"One of the reasons was that after discussions with UCI, we found that there was no good solution for both teams; I didn't want to put one team in limbo.

Plugge is still confirming the team's title sponsor for 2024, and UCI is using the management company's name when listing the teams that have applied for 2024WorldTour status.

Jumbo-Visma Sports Director Merijn Zeeman strongly indicated that, if indirect, the search for a new sponsor for the team had been successful, and Plugge also seemed indifferent, and the team budget for 2024 was expected to be higher than in 2023, when it won all 3 grand tours.

The Jumbo supermarket chain agreed to sponsor the team until the end of 2024, but Plug confirmed that he had spoken to several interested sponsors.

"It has been known for quite some time that Jumbo will shrink after 2024, but fortunately we had the time and opportunity to talk about joining in to exchange with various parties," he said without adding further.

While his riders enjoyed the off-season and holidays, Plug and his management staff gathered the team's new backers and new riders to celebrate their World Tour