The arrival of Segafredo to the Trek Factory Racing Team may only prove to be significant 12 months from now, once one of the sport’s great riders Fabian Cancellara leaves the team. Funding from Segafredo’s sponsorship will allow the team to sign big riders to replace the Swiss star. Names like Vincenzo Nibali, Greg Van Avermaet, Tejay van Garderen and even Peter Sagan are being thrown around as potential new riders to the team.

“To do it for at least three years, that gives the team a chance to build up something,” SD Dirk Demol told VeloNews about the Italian coffee company’s three year investment in the team. “When you can only look ahead one year, it’s difficult. We lost [Bob] Jungels and [Danny] Van Poppel because we couldn’t give them more than a one-year contract, and they had better options.”

“It’s big news,” Frank Schleck said. “To have a big Italian sponsor like that says a lot. Luca [Guercilena, general manager] and Trek can be happy. It’s good because it gives them a guarantee for the future.”

Demol said that while some Classics stars are available in 2017 like Sagan, Van Avermaet, John Degenkolb and Philippe Gilbert, the team may not purchase a new Classics star as they are keen to see how young riders like Jasper Stuyven and Edward Theuns develop in the one-day races.

“Jasper Stuyven is a rider who can go the longer distances of the classics. He will be supporting Fabian, but he will have his chances, too,” Demol said. “We are also excited about [Edward] Theuns. He has a lot of potential.”