Even though it was firmly emphasized that any negotiations concerning a future of Peter Sagan in professional cycling won’t be continued until after Paris-Roubaix, it didn’t prevent Cannondale’s manager from speaking on the subject at the start of Gent-Wavelgem on Sunday. Robert Amadio insisted that there is still a big chance that the Slovak will stay in the Italian WorldTour team after his current contract expires by the end of 2014.

Sagan’s future destination was one of the hottest topics during last winter-break and even though a racing season kicked off in earnest, speculations on the subject make the headlines almost every single week. The 24-year old rider has already been linked with Fernando Alonso’s cycling project, Astana and Tinkoff-Saxo, but Cannondale manager insists there is still a chance that he will extent a contract with the Italian team.

“Yes, we’re talking, we’re negotiating, so the possibility is there,” Amadio said.

“Journalists have been asking where Sagan is going and criticizing the team at every race but we’re not affected by it. We’re not looking at Gazzetta, L’Équipe or anywhere else. We’re looking within our team and we’re looking to win races.”

Sagan’s whole career in professional cycling was so far connected with Cannondale and he has emerged as one of the most spectacular riders of his generations under the wings of the Italian outfit. However, his team has been recently put under the wave of criticism, as it was strongly suggested that lack of a proper support prevents Slovakian rider from taking the spoils in UCI major events.

Amadio agreed that Cannondale can’t equip Sagan with an army of Belgians to back him during the classics season, but insisted that 24-year old rider is satisfied with a sporting level maintained by the team.

However, it was also revealed that Sagan’s agent, Giovanni Lombardi, is seeking a new contract worth 3 million euro per annum for his client, what reportedly deterred Astana from continuing negotiations and would make Cannondale less competitive compared to several wealthier WorldTour outfits.

“It’s only an economic problem, because in spite of the continued criticism of the journalists, we’ve shown that we have a team capable of working for him,” Amadio said. “At San Remo, we were the only team that made the race from the start and at Harelbeke on Friday, the team did its work right up until it was supposed to. Peter knows that he has a team devoted to him and that’s important.”

Amadio has also claimed that even though negotiations have been suspended until after the cobbled classics season, results obtained by Sagan won’t increase his value as Slovak’s potential has been very well recognized.

“It doesn’t change anything – Peter’s next victories won’t change his value and his qualities as a rider,” said Amadio. He also dismissed the idea that Sagan would take Cannondale with him as a bike supplier to Tinkoff-Saxo, as reported by Gazzetta dello Sport recently, highlighting that Cannondale is no longer merely a sponsor but the owner of the team’s WorldTour licence.

“Cannondale, as you could see from the recent statement of Bob Burbank, wants to go ahead with its own team,” Amadio said. “It’s made a big investment and it believes in the team project, independently of who the riders or management might be.”

Cannondale manager tried to turn the wave of criticism induced after Sagan’s disappointing performance in Milano-Sanremo, claiming that results were strongly affected by weather conditions and the 24-year old Slovak proved his worth while bouncing back in E3 Harelbeke last Friday.

“We managed the race well. He had to have a go at that point because otherwise Cancellara’s group would have latched back on as well, and the whole race would have been different,” Amadio said. “Peter was criticised unfairly after San Remo because it was a race conditioned by the bad weather and the Harelbeke result showed that.”