Slovakian champion Peter Sagan was the stand-out signing of the winter after making the switch from Cannondale to Tinkoff-Saxo.

But Sagan must be wondering whether that was the right decision after all, after a below-par start to the season.

He finally broke his Tinkoff-Saxo duck at Tirreno-Adriatico but with the team making headlines off the bike rather than on it – Bjarne Riis’ paying with his job after the poor start to the season – it failed to open the floodgates for Sagan.

Instead, he found himself with no response to Geraint Thomas’ second acceleration at E3 Harelbeke and suffered mechanical misfortune at Paris-Roubaix when he was in the front group, having put in an attacking ride.

In Boonen and Cancellara’s absence, Sagan appeared to be the leading candidate to step into their shoes and conquer the Classics.

Instead he emerged with just a fourth place at the Tour of Flanders – the same position he finished at Milan-San Remo – to shout about.

Tinkoff-Saxo invested heavily in the winter and have had little to show it for so far this season, with the out-of-form Sagan among their biggest concerns.

There is still time for him to pull it back and compete for a fourth straight green jersey at the Tour de France, but his first main target for the season – the cobbled Classics – fell very, very flat.