Peter Sagan with Fernando Alonso(Image credit: Ferrari)
Peter Sagan (Cannondale)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Stage 4 was not one for Peter Sagan (Cannondale)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Formula 1 star Fernando Alonso was on hand at the start of the elite men's world championship race(Image credit: Sirotti)
Peter Sagan(Image credit: Cannondale Pro Cycling)
Peter Sagan (Cannondale) kicks off his 2014 season at the Tour de San Luis(Image credit: Oran Kelly / PhotoSport International)
The 2014 season has only just begun but Peter Sagan is already at the centre of transfer talk, with the Italian website Tuttobiciweb claiming the Slovak rider has apparently already reached an agreement to join the nascent Team Alonso and will earn 3.3 million Euro a season for 2015 and 2016.
Sagan, who turned 24 on Sunday, is under contract with Cannondale for 2014 but his contract ends this season.
His success in recent years and his huge potential arguably make Sagan the most desirable rider in the peloton and it is no surprise that Alonso's team is keen to sign him. The Formula One driver took Sagan for a test drive at the Ferrari factory in Maranello at the end of last season and seems keen to build his Classics squad around him.
When contacted by Cyclingnews, several people linked to the Alonso team refused to make any official comment.
Sagan admitted that he has had an offer from Alonso's team in an interview with Slovak newspaper Pravda but he and his agent Giovanni Lombardi are wise enough to know that almost every team in the peloton is interested in his signature for 2015.
“Not only from him [Alonso]. I have several offers, even from Dukla Trencin [a Slovakian continental team]," Sagan joked.
“I am still contracted for a year. Everything is open and we'll discuss it. I'm not saying that I will go, maybe I'll stay. I'll see how it develops.”
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Sagan won Gent-Wevelgem, Brabantse Pijl and the GP Cycliste de Montréal in 2013 and was second in Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. He won 20 races, including stages at the Tour de France, the USA Pro Challenge, the Amgen Tour of California, Tour of Alberta, Tour of Oman, Tour de Suisse, The Three Days of De Panne and Tirreno Adriatico.
He finished second in the final stage of the Tour de San Luis on Sunday, and has named Milan-San Remo as his first major goal of the season.
Little is known about Alonso's team, expect that it is under construction for an intended 2015 debut. Former world champion and Italian nation coach Paolo Bettini is widely expected to be the team manager of the new super team, with sponsorship likely to come from the middle East.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
