In the landscape of traditional cycling and its sponsors, all is not well. We have already had the announcement this week that Arkéa-B&B Hotels will be no more after this season, while sponsor TotalEnergies will also be pulling the plug on its ProTeam commitments at the end of next season.
Now there has been another announcement which, thanks to a 'two become one' situation is going to leave the WorldTour one team short.
Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty are attempting to merge, the former team confirmed on Friday. Lotto has applied to the UCI to merge the licences of the two teams, suggesting that it will be Intermarché's infrastructure that will be absorbed into that of Lotto, rather than vice versa.
"The license application had to be delivered to the UCI by October 15, and that deadline was met," said Lotto owner Captains of Cycling in a statement. "As previously communicated, the application was submitted under the Captains of Cycling structure. Through the joint Lotto-Intermarché project, the team aims to make its return to the World Tour after three years."
For Lotto, the merger would mean access to greater assets that would be invaluable in its return to the WorldTour after three years in the ProTeam ranks.
But it might not be as simple as that.
With the Intermarché team (rather than the supermarket) apparently still carrying debts that now amount to €2.5 million, according to recent reports in Belgian media, it may be that the end of the team would be nigh even were it not for the Lotto package.
The Belgian pairing's merger intentions were voiced back in the summer, and while it has been confirmed this week, the debt would appear to remain an issue. Intermarché appears to be conducting a fighting retreat, selling off assets including team buses and more to ease the situation.
For a team that rose quickly from plucky breakaway-botherers to classification-conquering Tour de France glory hunters in several short years, it looks like a sad demise, of sorts.
The likelihood is, that with Lotto apparently taking the reins, its riders in particular will need to worry about employment. Biniam Girmay for example – author of so many of the team's memorable moments – is contracted till 2028 but has already been linked to XDS-Astana. Three other riders, including Louis Meintjes, will retire.
The merger will also create unforeseen dynamics in a WorldTour that is already in flux, with this being promotion / relegation year.
Uno-X Mobility, for example, are currently sitting in 19th place in the rankings and might otherwise miss out on a WorldTour spot, but with a merger complete they magically rise to 18th place and become a WorldTour team.
Teams merging in pro cycling is nothing new. It wasn't so long ago that there were rumours that Jumbo-Visma would pair up with Soudal-Quick Step – rumours which, of course, led to nothing.
But there is a long list of those that have gone ahead – Israel Start-Up Nation and Katusha-Alpecin (2020), BMC and CCC (2019), Cannondale Garmin and Drapac (2016), and the list goes on.
Like with Lotto and Intermarche, in each of these situations, and many similar ones before it, the mergers were carried out to bolster the finances or the prospects of the teams involved, sometimes on pain of folding.
But, except for those caught up in the situations at the time, the mergers tend to become pretty forgettable pretty quickly – shoring up a team's ability to continue to exist, and maybe thrive, rather than propelling it to sudden Grand Tour winning success.
What the future holds for Lotto and Intermarché remains to be seen, but a WorldTour place alone could help bring better fortune – albeit with heightened financial obligations – and, for Lotto and Intermarché, the continuation of a 60-year combined professional history.
