Slipstream sports is heading into a new phase of its life, with the merger with Cannondale meaning there will be more Italians than ever before on the American team.

“It will be a completely new team, we are facing a complete reshuffling of the deck,” Moreno Moser told Tutto Bici. “It’ll be a new project for everyone and with new finish lines to reach.”

Four other Italians join Moser: Davide Formolo, Davide Villela, Alberto Bettiol and Alan Marangoni. Sloveinans Matej Mohoric and Kristjan Koren and American Ted King also make the jump.

Moser, nephew of cycling legend Francesco, had a superb 2012, where at 21 in his neo-pro year he took two stages and the overall at the Tour of Poland plus Trofeo Laigueglia and Eschborn-Frankfurt. In 2013 he soloed to win Strade Bianche and was third on the Tour de France stage to Alpe d’Huez. But the rest of 2013 and all of 2014 proved to be hard for the talentied rider, who hardly showed himself at all.

“I want to re-find myself,” Moser added. “I want to begin to show my worth again.”

“Moreno only needs to have the right push to see what he can do, he has the quality and good numbers,” former Cannondale sport director Stefano Zanatta told VeloNews. “His head is such that when things go poorly, it’s hard on him. He needs to find a little bit of balance and … fresh air.”

Zanatta, who is now unemployed, knows about talents, having scouted Peter Sagan for the Cannondale team.

“Speaking English all the time could be difficult for Moreno, but that’s the way it is more or less in cycling now,” Zanatta said. “He’s got to adapt. It’ll be a different and ‘new-school’ approach. The riders will have to be smart to integrate.”

Zanatta also told VeloNews about the other riders the team would be gaining, having worked with all of them for at least one season.

“Peter Sagan could only take two riders with him to Tinkoff. He took his bother Juraj and Maciej Bodnar,” Zanatta said. “Alan Marangoni helped Peter and Elia Viviani throughout the season. With those strong domestique skills and his time trial strengths, [Marangoni] will adapt well in Vaughters’ team. He’s trustworthy in the classics, the grand tours, and the team time trial. He’ll fit in well with the team’s mentality. It’s a good opportunity for him to show his worth.”

“Alberto Bettiol is 21, he’s young and still needs to mature. He needs a few more years before he can show what he can do.”

“Davide Villella knows how to manage races already at 23,” Zanatta added. “If he has the right moment, he’ll go for it. He goes well in one-day races. We took him to the Ardennes Classics, and I think his new team should do the same. The team will also help him with his time trialling, where he already showed well this year.”

The biggest talent of the lot appears to be Davide Formolo from Verona, who was seventh overall in the Tour de Suisse and second behind Nibali in his national road race and second to Adam Yates in GP Industria & Artigianto. Matej Mohoric is also talented, becoming the first rider to win the junior and U23 road races in back to back years in 2013. Koren, like Marangoni, should prove a useful domestique in various terrains.

“Maybe he’ll be like Moser, good at the start and then suffer under pressure afterwards,” Zanatta said of Formolo. “The good thing is that he’ll probably adjust quicker in Vaughters’ team because he was in our team for less time. He should be able to lead in smaller stage races and to learn for future grand tours.”