Quick Step and Omega Pharma to Merge

[l.Harm]

I prefer Slow Alpha

 

[the asian]

What about Greipel? If he's on the same team as Boonen and Gilbert, it could create some dissension.

Greipel is staying with Lotto.

 

[Tigerion]

I'll just be referring to them as the speedy bumpkins from now on

 

[cobblehead]

Greipel is staying with Lotto.

as I've mentioned in the transfer rumours topic, today's newspapers here in Flanders are saying that, since omega-pharma is not stopping as main sponsor but is going on in a new team, that all existing contracts with omega-pharma-lotto will automatically become contracts with omega-pharma-quickstep (or so the people at omega-pharma claim)

this would mean that gilbert, vandenbroeck and greipel (among others) are bound to the new team by contract and that they will either have to ride for the new team or buy their way out of their contract (and for gilbert the price is rumoured to be 1.5 million euros)

 

[craig1985]

That's kinda silly for something which is quite an interesting issue.

My choice isn't even up there.

Look, I'll be the first to admit I tried to be funny, and I failed.

 

[cyclingPRpro]

as I've mentioned in the transfer rumours topic, today's newspapers here in Flanders are saying that, since omega-pharma is not stopping as main sponsor but is going on in a new team, that all existing contracts with omega-pharma-lotto will automatically become contracts with omega-pharma-quickstep (or so the people at omega-pharma claim)

They can claim that if they want... the license-holder is the team organization, NOT the sponsor. The team would have to be run by idiots to allow a sponsor to control anything other than sending checks.

 

[AussieGoddess]

and Gilberts contract is up at the end of this year anyway .... is why he has been shopping around - so no buyout for him.

 

[ansimi]

They can claim that if they want... the license-holder is the team organization, NOT the sponsor. The team would have to be run by idiots to allow a sponsor to control anything other than sending checks.

One would certainly expect that the team is its own legal entity that maintains contracts with sponsors and contracts with riders, ect. But we can't completely rule out the idiot option...

 

[cobblehead]

They can claim that if they want... the license-holder is the team organization, NOT the sponsor. The team would have to be run by idiots to allow a sponsor to control anything other than sending checks.

if the articles in the belgian press today are correct the belgian cycling company (BCC) are the licenceholder, the man behind BCC is Marc Coucke and who happens to be the big boss of team sponsor omega pharma? Marc Coucke..

I wouldn't just assume that their point about gilberts contract isn't valid...

whether it's a smart thing to play the game this way, that's another thing...

@aussiegodess: riders like gilbert, vandenbroeck and others assumed that their contract would be terminated when the team Omega-pharma-lotto disbanded and apparantly this would automatically have been the case if BCC had stopped as licenceholder and main team organisation behind a new team, however since BCC is apparantly becoming both licenceholder and main team organizer for the omega-pharma-quickstep-team it would appear that the abovementioned clause does not apply and all the present contracts stick.

This would mean that all current omega-pharma-lotto-riders currently still under contract will become omega-pharma-quickstep-riders unless they buy out their contract.

lefevre must be laughing his *ss off, without too big an effort he has a good chance of getting gilbert, vandenbroeck, greipel and a number of other nice riders to reinforce his team, seeing as how almost every decent rider at quickstep has signed an extension this all has the making of a strong team (with or without gilbert)

 

[cobblehead]

in the meantime Gilberts manager has responded to the claims by omega-pharma.

According to him the existing contracts only continued to exist if omega-pharma (BCC) continued as one team with lotto, now that they are aligning themselves with quickstep, he claims that all contracts are null.

He also said that as of now gilbert has four offers on the table: Astana, Lotto (the new lotto-team), BMC and quickstep (about which it is unclear who made the offer, quickstep under their own licence or omega-pharma-quickstep under their new form)

what a mess...

 

[Machu Picchu]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but if you've got two teams with two separate licence holders and then these two merge then surely one of these licences and presumably the riders contracts with that licence are now void?

So if the new OPQS team is operating on the BCC licence then what's happening with the QS licence and are their riders free from contract?_?

 

[Kvinto]

if the new Lotto team can keep Gilbert then already having Van den Broeck and Vanendert they'll be more the Belgian project than OP-QS no matter whom they'll sign

 

[just some guy]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but if you've got two teams with two separate licence holders and then these two merge then surely one of these licences and presumably the riders contracts with that licence are now void?

So if the new OPQS team is operating on the BCC licence then what's happening with the QS licence and are their riders free from contract?_?

A good point If BCC own the licence then 1 licence has to go which means 1 group of riders will need to sign new contracts.

Boonen to saxo again anyone

This thing gets harder to work out by the second.

 

[Lanark]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but if you've got two teams with two separate licence holders and then these two merge then surely one of these licences and presumably the riders contracts with that licence are now void?

So if the new OPQS team is operating on the BCC licence then what's happening with the QS licence and are their riders free from contract?_?

I'm pretty sure that both Quick-Step's and Omega Pharma's licence end this year, but just because the World Tour licence ends this year doesn't mean every contract with every rider from that team ends.

 

[greenedge]

They have to somewhere slot Innergetic in.

 

[El Pistolero]

Jurgen van den Broeck, Jelle Vanendert, Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert in one team would be pretty cool. Together with Roelandts(good domestique), Pineau and Sylvain Chavanel you have quite the super team in a broad spectrum of races.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

if the articles in the belgian press today are correct the belgian cycling company (BCC) are the licenceholder, the man behind BCC is Marc Coucke and who happens to be the big boss of team sponsor omega pharma? Marc Coucke..
lefevre must be laughing his *ss off,

The first half of your post is inconsistent with this part of the end of it. If OP and QS (the companies) have united behind BCC, then Lefevre's Esperanza cycling team seem to have been left high and dry. BCC already has a general manager in the person of Geert Coeman, and a full team.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

if the new Lotto team can keep Gilbert then already having Van den Broeck and Vanendert they'll be more the Belgian project than OP-QS no matter whom they'll sign

If OP-QS is to be based around BCC, it would appear that it is far more the case that QS are moving their allegiance than that Omega Pharma Co are. So rather than Lotto saying cheerio to Omega, and that company looking for another team to use as sandwich boards, it would seem that Lefevre/Esperanza/Boonen-Chananel-DeWeert have been left without sponsors (the secondary sponsor, Innergetic, having also moved), and Lotto have been told, "No, its you who are not needed any more."

So will Lotto take up with the outfit that QS and Innergetic have left behind?

 

[swuzzlebubble]

So will Lotto take up with the outfit that QS and Innergetic have left behind?

Or HighRoad?

 

[Michielveedeebee]

If OP-QS is to be based around BCC, it would appear that it is far more the case that QS are moving their allegiance than that Omega Pharma Co are. So rather than Lotto saying cheerio to Omega, and that company looking for another team to use as sandwich boards, it would seem that Lefevre/Esperanza/Boonen-Chananel-DeWeert have been left without sponsors (the secondary sponsor, Innergetic, having also moved), and Lotto have been told, "No, its you who are not needed any more."

So will Lotto take up with the outfit that QS and Innergetic have left behind?

where'd you get that ?

 

[cobblehead]

The first half of your post is inconsistent with this part of the end of it. If OP and QS (the companies) have united behind BCC, then Lefevre's Esperanza cycling team seem to have been left high and dry. BCC already has a general manager in the person of Geert Coeman, and a full team.

In an interview with sporza Lefevre said that he was happy with the merger of his outfit with omega-pharma and with the renewal of the sponsorcontract with quickstep.

Also the big chiefs behind esperanza cycling team have made a statement in which they said that they were happy with the merger.

the way I see it the new team omega-pharma-quickstep will race under the licence held by Belgian Cycling company (omega-pharma) but will be reinforced by the riders signed with lefevre and with the main sponsor of lefevres quickstep-innergetic-team.

I also don't see a man like lefevre doing something like that unless a nice function in this new team was promised to him.

an interesting question (and one already made here) is what will happen with the protour-licence that lefevre held? had it already reached its end or not?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

where'd you get that ?

I'm trying to make sense of the reports here, not trying to assert anything.

BCC is currently sponsored by OP and Lotto, and Esperanza is currently sponsored by Quick Step and Innergetic.

We are told that BCC is going to be sponsored by OP, Quick Step and Innergetic. The logical consequence of that is that Lotto don't have a team that they are in contact with, and Esperanza (Lefevre's team, which includes the riders I named) are left without a sponsor.

If that conclusion is wrong, then it seems that the information we have been given about BCC being the cycling team involved is at least only partially correct.

Lefevre's cited interview with Sporza suggests that it is not as simple as those companies uniting behind BCC, but if it is a merger of teams (ie, Esperanza and BCC are uniting), then Lotto must be looking at a totally new team trying to get a licence. That, in the current market and after all that happened to Pegasus, seems a strange way of going about things.

 

[AussieGoddess]

I'm trying to make sense of the reports here, not trying to assert anything.

BCC is currently sponsored by OP and Lotto, and Esperanza is currently sponsored by Quick Step and Innergetic.

We are told that BCC is going to be sponsored by OP, Quick Step and Innergetic. The logical consequence of that is that Lotto don't have a team that they are in contact with, and Esperanza (Lefevre's team, which includes the riders I named) are left without a sponsor.

If that conclusion is wrong, then it seems that the information we have been given about BCC being the cycling team involved is at least only partially correct.

Lefevre's cited interview with Sporza suggests that it is not as simple as those companies uniting behind BCC, but if it is a merger of teams (ie, Esperanza and BCC are uniting), then Lotto must be looking at a totally new team trying to get a licence. That, in the current market and after all that happened to Pegasus, seems a strange way of going about things.

Strange yes - but that may be exactly the case as both BCC and Esperanza have the contracted riders and want to keep them all. Merging is the only way for OPQS to keep Boonen, Gilbert, VDB etc. Maybe just a ploy for money to get paid out for these guys, but they arent going to care what happens to Lotto.

Lotto (as a sponsor) can simply find another team to put their money into. I beleive HTC are looking

 

[nobilis]

Lotto (as a sponsor) can simply find another team to put their money into. I beleive HTC are looking

yeah, but apparently, lotto wants to build a new team that focuses mainly on Belgian talents. Maybe they will become a ProConti team like Landbouwkrediet or Topsport Vlaanderen.

 

[just some guy]

yeah, but apparently, lotto wants to build a new team that focuses mainly on Belgian talents. Maybe they will become a ProConti team like Landbouwkrediet or Topsport Vlaanderen.

Im sure Jelle, VDB2 and Greipel will be happy about that since they apparently signed deals with or were wanted