Cannondale and Garmin-Sharp will marge next season after the bike brand confirmed it was joining forcing with Slipstream Sports for 2015.

The announcement puts an end to weeks of speculation surrounding the future of the Cannondale team, which has seen several of its star riders confirm they are to leave the team this winter.

Peter Sagan, Maciej Bodnar and Ivan Basso will all join Tinkoff-Saxo, Alessandro de Marchi and Damiano Caruso are set to transfer BMC Racing and Fabio Sabatini will join Etixx-Quickstep , as the Omega Pharma-Quickstep will be known from January.

However, Cannondale hope the merger – which will see Slipstream Sports manage the overall operations of the team and Garmin remain as ‘a significant sponsor’ – will boost both the team and the brand.

Peter Woods, president and CEO of holding company Dorel Recreation/Leisure, said: “Cannondale is excited to team up with Slipstream to create the next evolution of Cannondale Pro Cycling with the most progressive and innovative team in the peloton.

“Professional athletes play a key role in testing our products in some of the most extreme conditions worldwide helping us to create the perfect ride for our consumers.

“We are thrilled about progressing our product development approach while bringing exciting racing to our fans around the world.”

The team roster for 2015, alongside further details of the merger, including kit, will be revealed at a later date.

But Slipstream Sports CEO Jonathan Vaughters is pleased to be boosting the team’s roster for 2015, to add to a team which has already won the Giro d’Italia in 2012 through Ryder Hesjedal, and multiple Grand Tour stages – including Ramunas Navardauskas’ Tour de France stage 19 win last month.

He said: “Slipstream Sports and Cannondale share key philosophies of a focus on innovation, developing the next generation of champions and a commitment to ethical sport.

“We are happy to work with another company, that, like Garmin, so closely shares our goals.

“We will be adding some great talent to an already outstanding roster and we believe the team will build on past successes and will produce very exciting racing in 2015.

“We look forward to what we can achieve together, both on and off the road.”