It hasn’t been a happy marriage between Cannondale and Garmin so far, with the team having won just three races in the first five months of their existence so far. The team also suffered bug blows as crashes two their Cobbled and Ardennes leaders Sebastian Langeveld and Dan Martin denied them achieving any big results in those races.

“When you look at the spring, not very many teams won a lot. I think there are a lot of teams in the same position, and it’s very early to draw any conclusions,” sport director Charly Wegelius told VeloNews on Sunday. “The morale is high, everyone is going about their work, and everyone is excited about the coming races.”

Davide Formolo took a huge win earlier this week in Giro d’Italia stage four as Ramunas Navardauskas wrapped up the GC at Circuit Cycliste de la Sarthe and Ben King took Criterium International stage one.

But the team isn’t panicking at their lack of wins just yet, as Wegelius says he is using advice given to him by a certain successful team manager.

“When I was 21, [Etixx-Quick Step manager] Patrick Lefevere told me, ‘Panic is a bad advisor.’ And that is very true,” Wegelius said. “Beyond the story of the points, there are a lot of good things happening. The development of young riders has gone very well. The fusion of two groups has gone very well. These kinds of things are going to bear fruit later on.”

Wegelius has praised the work done by team manager Jonathan Vaughters, saying he has done everything possible to ensure the merger went as smoothly as possible. He also praised the Cannondale riders who moved over from an Italian speaking team to an English speaking team, saying their efforts to speak English are appreciated.

“Jonathan did a good job planning the winter, and the time we spent together, to get that gelling together over the winter,” Wegelius said.

“The Italian riders who have come across have been very open. I heard two Italians talking English among themselves, because they are taking a big effort to learn English. They’re young kids, and they’re taking it as a positive learning experience. They’ve also brought some positive things, with the traditions of Italian cycling. It’s going to leave a net gain for the whole organization.”