Ineos-QuickStep merger? Lidl-Trek's supermarket sweep; a bad week for doping cases; Swiss aiming for 2031 Super Worlds

RadioCycling

The Vuelta a España is just around the corner, but before the focus switches to the final Grand Tour of the season there are plenty of other big talking points in the pro peloton. These are RadioCycling's latest headline stories...
We start on familiar ground, with a look at the latest developments and rumours involving the Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-QuickStep and, it almost goes without saying, Remco Evenepoel. What began as a quest by the British team to sign the Belgian team's leader is turning into something quite different and much more substantial. There's talk of a merger of the two squads, a move that could suit the key players on both sides and could, if confirmed, result in two billionaires joining forces in what would be the most super of teams.
It's been a bad week for doping cases. On the heels of the Richard Freeman verdict, Belgian cyclo-cross star Toon Aerts has copped a two-year ban after testing positive for Letrozole, a verdict which doesn't bode well for his compatriot Shari Bossuyt, who now appears to be facing the same fate for the same product. Meanwhile, Jumbo-Visma GC prospect Michel Hessman has delivered a positive test for an unknown diuretic. We examine these cases and discuss where they leave the riders involved, their teams and the sport as a whole.
Lidl-Trek have been arguably the biggest movers in the transfer market in August, and the raft of talent highlights that they've definitely not been shopping in the cycling equivalent of the middle aisle in your local Lidl. We hear from the team's head of performance, Josu Larrazabal, who reveals the thinking behind the arrival of seven highly experienced racers including GC leader Tao Geoghegan Hart and top sprinter Jonathan Milan, and of the team's hopes of becoming stage racing big-hitters.
Finally, our super sleuth, Chris Marshall-Bell, is already thinking eight years down the line, to the 2031 Super Worlds. The UCI has said five countries from three continents are interested, and our journalistic bloodhound believes he's identified three of them, with the ruling body's home country admitting that it's very much in the running.

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