The new Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step mega-merger team has attracted its first new major sponsor.
According to a report from Wielerflits, it was announced by Dutch marketer Chris Woerts on the Today Inside television programme that Amazon will come on board as one of the new financiers for the new super team project.
Wielerflits' reports that the American e-commerce company will not be one of the title sponsors of the new team, but will act as a co-sponsor instead.
Amazon has worked closely with Richard Plugge’s Jumbo-Visma team in recent years. Last year a fly on the wall documentary titled ‘All in team Jumbo-Visma’ was available on the Amazon Prime streaming service.
The report from the Dutch cycling news outlet also states that the documentary will have a follow up series which will be broadcast later this year. The new episodes will take a closer look at the individual Grand Tour victories of Primož Roglič, Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss.
Roglič won the Giro d’Italia in May before Vingegaard took his second Tour de France title in July. Kuss then rounded out the team's stunning season with victory at the recent Vuelta a España. It was the American’s first-ever Grand Tour win.
News first broke of the new merger earlier this week. It’s widely believed that Soudal and Visma have been involved in the discussions from the start with both companies leading the way to become the title sponsors of the new team.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, former Quick-Step DS Brian Holm said that he believes the merger is the only way to “save the future” of Patrick Lefevere’s Quick-Step project.
He said: “For me, it would actually be quite good for Quick-Step because imagine he will stop in two years and nobody takes over? The team would stop because nobody can do his job in the team, nobody.”
“That would be a sad day for cycling,” he added. “People love to hate him but as far I'm concerned, he's one of the best things that's happened for cycling, the job he's done. People will realise that when he's gone."
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