Sagan linked to 3.3 mio. euro deal with Alonso

Peter Sagan has again been linked with a move to the new Fernando Alonso team when his contract with Cannondale expires at the end of the season. According to Tuttobici, the Slovakian and the team have agreed to a provisional two year deal that will give him a yearly salary of 3.3 million euro.

It is no secret that the major topic on this year's transfer market will be the future destination for Peter Sagan whose contract with the Cannondale team will expire at the end of the season. Now it appears that a solution has been found already before the speculation could really begin.

Tuttobici reports that Sagan and the new Fernando Alonso team which is still unnamed but is reported to be backed by the Dubai Etihad company, have reached a provisional two year deal. The contract will be a lucrative one for Sagan who will reportedly earn a yearly salary of 3.3 million euro.

UCI rules prevent riders and teams to sign contracts at this time of the year but pre-agreements have often been used in the past. If the deal is confirmed, Sagan will leave Cannondale after starting his career at the team in 2010 and riding for Roberto Amadio's squad for 5 consecutive seasons.

Cannondale have done their utmost to retain Sagan's service and have desperately been looking for sponsors who could secure the needed funding. At one point, it seemed that Oleg Tinkov would step in but the parties were unable to reach an agreement, with the Russian instead buying Team Tinkoff-Saxo from Bjarne Riis.

Instead, Cannondale took over the team completely and wanted to register it as an American squad. However, that would open the door for Sagan to break his contract and so the team decided to stay Italian for another season before making the transition in 2015.

Sagan has previously been linked to Alonso after he visited a Formula 1 race track with the Spaniard. In an interview in December, he admitted to have received an offer from the new team but also said that he would find it hard to leave his current surroundings.

The new Fernando Alonso team tried to take over the Euskaltel license but when those negotiations broke down, they postponed their debut until 2015. The team has said that they will only sign riders that have no existing contracts but Alberto Contador and Joaquim Rodriguez have both been linked with the new formation when their current contracts expire at the end of the 2015 season.

Pushing the grand tour ambitions a bit into the future, it appears that the team will have a classics focus from the start, with Sagan being the major star on the roster.