{"id":300350,"date":"2025-11-22T00:35:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T00:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/300350\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T00:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T00:35:20","slug":"all-in-all-its-a-bit-of-a-crap-show-thomas-de-gendt-lifts-the-lid-on-chaos-behind-lotto-intermarche-merger-and-warns-riders-are-in-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/300350\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAll in all\u2026 it\u2019s a bit of a crap show\u201d \u2013 Thomas De Gendt lifts the lid on chaos behind Lotto\u2013Intermarche merger and warns riders are \u201cin hell\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nIt is an unusually hard-hitting assessment from a rider known for his dry humour<\/a> rather than explosive commentary, yet the Belgian makes clear that the situation behind the scenes is far more chaotic than fans realise.Riders \u201cdon\u2019t know if they are in or out\u201d \u2013 and many are living in fear<\/p>\n

For De Gendt, the starting point of any merger is brutally simple: \u201cWhenever there\u2019s news of a team merger in the peloton, I think the general reaction to it amongst those riders affected is simply: \u2018Oh shit, maybe I won\u2019t have a job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He stresses that while star riders like Arnaud De Lie<\/a> and Biniam Girmay<\/a> are safe, the rest of the roster is facing months of anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve heard from the Lotto\u2013Intermarche situation is that the riders really don\u2019t know anything about the team, and a significant number of riders still don\u2019t know if they are in or out, even in November,\u201d explains De Gendt. \u201cThe less well-known riders and the young riders will surely have to worry a lot about their jobs and their future\u2026 for those riders, it\u2019s a bit like being in hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Gendt argues that the uncertainty does not only affect the two merging squads \u2014 it paralyses the entire market, because no team wants to sign riders who might suddenly become available once the dust settles. \u201cIn a general sense, the effect of a merger like this is that it really blocks the whole transfer market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"thomasdegendt\"\/<\/p>\n

De Gendt was a long-time servant of the Lotto team during his career<\/p>\n

The sponsorship chain reaction: \u201cCube doesn\u2019t have a team to sponsor\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his sharpest insights concerns kit and bike sponsors. With the merged team reportedly switching to Orbea in 2026, the outgoing supplier Cube is suddenly left without a WorldTour home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard Orbea is the new bike brand for the merged team in 2026, so that means Cube doesn\u2019t have a team to sponsor, and I can imagine that the brand would still prefer to stay in the WorldTour.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warns that the same applies to clothing, equipment and secondary sponsors \u2014 a ripple effect that further destabilises the market.<\/p>\n

A grim parallel: when 90 riders chased 20 jobs<\/p>\n

De Gendt\u2019s bluntness stems from personal experience. In 2013, Vacansoleil collapsed and multiple teams folded, creating one of the most brutal winters modern cycling has ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly, there were 90 riders on the market for around 20 spots left on teams,\u201d the Belgian recalls. \u201cI would have accepted any offer going on the table\u2026 I had to settle for an 80% pay cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasises that the current merger risks creating exactly the same scenario for a new generation. \u201cJust as the situation is now \u2013 you can\u2019t really demand a certain salary\u2026 you don\u2019t have any leverage for negotiating at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey still don\u2019t know the full story\u201d \u2013 and communication has broken down<\/p>\n

One of his deepest criticisms is aimed at Lotto\u2019s evolving internal structure. He contrasts the older, family-style environment under Marc Sergeant and Herman Frison with what riders face now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was there, everything was family-like and everybody was friendly\u2026 but now it seems to me like things aren\u2019t as open, and maybe certain things are kept secret,\u201d De Gendt claims. \u201cIf there is secrecy about the future of the team\u2026 and the riders still don\u2019t know the full story in November, that for me is a big problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also highlights the cumbersome management system that, in his view, repeatedly cost Lotto valuable signings. \u201cIf the wage was higher than \u20ac350,000, it had to go to a board meeting\u2026 they lost a lot of good riders in that process because it all took too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

By contrast, he says Patrick Lefevere\u2019s direct authority at QuickStep allowed for fast, decisive moves.<\/p>\n

Budget doubts and a \u20ac2.5 million debt: the numbers don\u2019t add up<\/p>\n

The financial element of De Gendt\u2019s column is arguably its most explosive. According to what he has heard internally, the promised super-budget for the merged team simply does not exist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntermarche reportedly has a \u20ac2.5 million debt,\u201d he reports. \u201cLotto thought that Intermarche would bring in \u20ac15 million for 2026\u2026 however, I\u2019ve heard it\u2019s actually far less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add in the sponsors who have not moved across, plus the contracts that must be paid out: \u201cThe new team would have had to pay off the contracts of the riders who are not going to stay with the team\u2026 that\u2019s around 11 riders\u2019 contracts they had to pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n

His overall conclusion is stark: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s such a positive thing to have two teams in difficulty merge, because the result seems to be that we have one merged team still in difficulty, and the other disappearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has laid out the human cost, the market paralysis, the sponsorship chaos, the structural weaknesses and the financial instability with a clarity few insiders ever express publicly. And his final verdict may be the line that follows this story for months to come:\u00a0\u201cAll in all\u2026 it\u2019s a bit of a shit show.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is an unusually hard-hitting assessment from a rider known for his dry humour rather than explosive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[171764,64,63,153763,784,165646,12067,85,171763],"class_list":{"0":"post-300350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-arnaud-de-lie","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-biniam-girmay","12":"tag-cycling","13":"tag-intermarche-wanty","14":"tag-lotto","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-thomas-de-gendt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}