Axel Merckx will lead a new development team for Soudal-Quick Step
Soudal-Quick Step announced on Friday that it was joining forces with Axel Merckx, who will lead a new iteration of Hagens Berman Axeon as a development squad for the Belgian WorldTour outfit. The team press release made no mention of the fact that Merckx's project has been a development team for Jayco-AlUla for the past three seasons as Hagens Berman Jayco.
According to Dan Benson on his Substack, current riders on the Hagens Berman Jayco team were told on Friday that Merckx was leaving the Jayco umbrella. Some of those riders may receive contracts with Jayco, which has not yet decided whether it will continue to fund a development team. Meanwhile, Merckx will bring his project and its longtime sponsor into the Soudal-Quick Step fold, where he will reunite with team CEO Jurgen Foré, who was his teammate more than 30 years ago when they were themselves up-and-comers in the Belgian racing scene.
