Remco Evenepoel, speaking for the first time about the proposed merger of Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep, said, "There is no answer because the information is zero."

Speaking with Het Laatste Nieuws, Evenepoel did not reveal where his future lies, even though that decision was a key factor in the outcome of the acquisition.

Evenepoel reportedly met with the management of the Jumbo-Visma team last week, and the grenadiers at Ineos are keen to sign him to bolster their grand tour ambitions. But if Patrick Lefevere creates a "rest team" from the ashes of Soudal-QuickStep after the acquisition and holds the current WorldTour license, Evenepoel will be under contract and it will be much harder for him to leave.

Evenepoel will be in Italy to ride Il Lombardia on Saturday and win Tre Valli Vresine on Tuesday.

"We just don't know anything," Evenepoel told HLN in a video interview.

"I only know what you know, what you write. At the moment, for everyone, there is only a question mark. All we can do is wait. And I hope it will work. We can't estimate what will come our way within the next 10 days or 2 weeks."

UCI has made it clear that teams involved in the merger must respect rider and staff contract and governance rules. It also revealed that since the uci issued a press release of a list of teams that submitted the information necessary for registration in 2024, riders on a team that has been taken over by another team will only be released from the existing contract.10/19

Evenepoel also appears to understand UCI's rules and knows that the rider transfer window will be officially open until 12/31. But he and everyone else in this traumatic saga want to clarify as soon as possible.

"You can and are allowed to sign anywhere until 12/31," Evenepoel said. "So do not rush, winter is still long. Everyone wants to know what happens to Sudar Quick Step as soon as possible. It's almost a holiday, unanswered questions in that sense are definitely not nice."

Evenepoel and his Soudal-QuickStep teammates will put aside their concerns about the future and try to focus on Saturday's Il Lombardia. He will join Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) at the last monument of the 2023 season.

"There's a slightly strange, slightly confusing atmosphere. Some people treat this differently than others," Evenepoel said of the feelings within Soudal-QuickStep.

"I know what it feels like to have to play under pressure. But the other boys have not yet felt that pressure, they have more difficulties with it.

"I want to use all my energy for the race. I'm here to chase my last big season goal, Il Lombardia. I am more concerned with it.

"We have to do what we know: race as fast as possible and try to achieve good results. There are reasons for panic and stress, but you need to save it for after the season.”