Tension until Saturday: these are the problems that the Intermarché-Wanty-Lotto merger still faces on the day of the deadline

On Tuesday afternoon, a meeting took place between the two teams, which concluded that “the intention to merge three months ago has finally been translated into a license application”. That was just in time, as Wednesday, 15 October, was the deadline for submitting the merger plans to the UCI.

The plan is now with the cycling union, and it is up to the UCI to decide whether everything is in order or not. The teams will not have to wait long for the (hopefully) redeeming word, as the UCI will announce the list of teams that will receive a license for 2026 on Saturday, October 18.

According to the Belgian media, this is not a certainty. There are several reasons for this, but the financial situation of Intermarché-Wanty is one of them. It was already known that the team was 2.5 million euros in the red, and that this would have to be partially covered by “the sale of rolling stock such as team buses, trucks and bicycles”.

“For the same reason, several members of staff from both teams – especially at Lotto, where the tally now stands at ten – have been made redundant,” according to HLN. With success, because sources report to the Belgian media outlet “that there is a bank guarantee and the necessary sponsorship contracts.” The UCI will have to determine whether everything is in order.

What else needs to be done? Quite a lot, it seems. “The service course in Temse, Orbea as bike manufacturer, and the organizational chart of the technical staff with Jean-Francois Bourlart as CEO, Kurt Van De Wouwer as sports manager, and Aike Visbeek as performance manager,” according to the Belgian media outlet. Sports directors and staff, such as soigneurs and mechanics, have already been shown the door.

Many staff members have reportedly stated that they do not yet know where they stand, and in a sense, this also applies to many riders. In fact, the surplus of riders seems to be the biggest obstacle to the merger. According to HLN, "the current core of the merged team still has 31 riders," which is one rider too many according to UCI rules.

But that is without counting seven riders who have already been told they can leave. Of course, a few of those contracts still need to be bought out. Fourteen riders and three promising young riders from the Lotto team would become part of the merged team, leaving fourteen riders without a place.

With the outgoing transfers of Brent Van Moer (Q36.5), Arjen Livyns (Astana), Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), and Jarrad Drizners (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), four riders have already chosen to leave. Still, there would be no place for Reuben Thompson, Lorenz Van De Wynkele, and Baptiste Veistroffer, and no solution has yet been found. Their contracts will likely have to be bought out.

At Intermarché-Wanty, twelve riders are expected to stay, and two more promising young riders are expected to join from the training team. Laurenz Rex (Soudal-Quick Step), Francesco Busatto (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Gerben Kuypers (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw), Hugo Page (Cofidis), and Alexy Faure Prost (Picnic-PostNL) have already found new teams.

This means that a different solution must be found for Kamiel Bonneu, Dries De Pooter, Dion Smith, and Alexander Kamp. The future of Biniam Girmay remains unclear, but the merged team is willing to go to great lengths to retain him. The rider from Eritrea is said to have an offer from Israel-Premier Tech already.

In any case, the merger still has many snags, and the Belgian media outlet writes that “if the merger team does not materialize, the consequences could be even worse. Intermarché Wanty seems to be financially doomed, and Lotto is also running out of steam.” The Belgian teams will be eagerly awaiting Saturday, when the UCI will announce its decision.