With his contract to expire after this season, a bidding war for the services of Peter Sagan has apparently started. Only two weeks ago, Tuttobiciweb reported an agreement between the Slovak and the new 'Team Alonso' that will start operations in 2015. Sagan's yearly salary was reported to be 3.3 million euros, a staggering figure for cycling.

Now Tuttobiciweb reports that Oleg Tinkov has offered an even higher salary: Sagan would earn 4 million per year if he signs for the Tinkoff team that probably won't be sponsored by Saxo Bank in 2015 anymore.

The people behind 'Team Alonso' are said to be unhappy about this new development, as it opens for another round of negotiations, demands and counter-offers. Whatever the outcome will be, Sagan's agent, the former pro cyclist Giovanni Lombardi, does his job well.

Peter Sagan appears to be one of Tinkov's favourite riders: Before buying Saxo-Tinkoff late last year and changing the team name to Tinkoff-Saxo, the Russian was also in negotiations about taking over a share of the Cannondale team, with Sagan allegedly the sole reason for the negotiations.

If Sagan should leave Cannondale after this season, that could well mean the end for the Italian-registered, US-sponsored team in its current guise – the team is built largely around its star rider.

However, there may be a way out: Fernando Alonso's new team will not be awarded a WorldTour license if it starts from scratch, meaning that the team would spend at least one year as Professional Continental team without security of racing all WorldTour events.

Biciciclismo reported a few days ago that the Alonso team is in talks with Cannondale about a 'merger', with Alonso taking over the existing team's license and getting immediate entry to the WorldTour that way. Maybe the US bike manufacturer could be prompted to pay part of Sagan's salary in order to match Tinkov's offer and keep Sagan on their bike.