Cannondale and Garmin to join forces in 2015

Cannondale and Slipstream Sports, management company of Garmin-Sharp, announced Wednesday that the two WorldTour teams will be joining together in 2015 in what Slipstream CEO Jonathan Vaughters calls a marriage.

Cannondale will become the team’s bicycle provider and take an ownership stake in Slipstream Sports, while Slipstream will continue to manage the team. The partnership will initially last for three seasons.

In a press release Vaughters said, “Slipstream Sports and Cannondale share key philosophies of a focus on innovation, developing the next generation of champions and a commitment to ethical sport. We are happy to work with another company, that, like Garmin, so closely shares our goals. We will be adding some great talent to an already outstanding roster and we believe the team will build on past successes and will produce very exciting racing in 2015. We look forward to what we can achieve together, both on and off the road.”

Slipstream was founded in 2004, while Cannondale first provided bikes for the Saeco team in 1997. Garmin and Canadian bike company Cervélo Test Team merged in 2010 and the Slipstream squad have been riding Cervélos ever since. Earlier this year it was announced that South African Pro Continental team MTN-Qhubeka will ride Cervélo bikes starting in 2015. Cannondale was called Liquigas-Cannondale from 2011 to 2012.

As of the announcement, the team will be called Team Cannondale but Slipstream has the right to secure a first or second name sponsor. So the team might be Cannondale-Garmin or Garmin-Cannondale. This reporter is interested to see how green argyle will be utilized in the uniform.

Cannondale has eight riders under contract for next year, and they’ll be offered contracts with the new organization. Young Italian Davide Formolo has already come on board. Slipstream will analyze any Cannondale rider’s UCI blood profiles before it signs contracts. Peter Sagan, Cannondale’s star of the last few seasons, is off to Tinkoff-Saxo next year.

Slipstream has 14 athletes under contract for 2015 including Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, Irishman Dan Martin and American Andrew Talansky, all of whom will be contesting the Vuelta a España. There is room for three to five more riders in the new family.