tbf though, in Buchman, Bauhaus and Herklotz they've got possibly the 3 brightest German talents in cycling, and if signing Sagan and co is what it takes for them to go WT and to keep those riders whilst simultaneously getting them experience in the biggest races then it's right for them.

Martin might be a realistic transfer for them as he's not been as strong this year as previously so Ettix might look to swap him for a younger up and coming TTist like they did with Cav for Kittel and Gavira so he could be a possible signing, but him alone won't be enough to justify going WT and I can't see Kittel or Degenkolb moving this season.

Geschke might be a possible target, I don't know how secure he is at Giant, although them signing Ten Dam and selling Kittel last year suggests they might be going more into GC than sprinting which would make him less available.

If they keep the Germans they've got then they've effectively got the best of the next generation Germans and the guys that will likely be fighting for wins in 2-3 years time and adding someone who wouldn't disrupt their schedule at that point but would be a star and worth the media attention and who will get the the race results in the mean time.

And Sagan and the others mention fit in with the squad nationality wise when you think they have guys like Barta, Huzarski, Konrad, Muhlberger, Postlberger and used to have Konig who there has been talk of possibly returning if they do go WT.

And it's not like they don't already have a nice amount of Germans to form the backbone of the team and who we could see being aggressive and getting in the breaks and helping keep the German sponsors and media happy that way.

There doesn't seem to be as many strong Americans as there used to be, maybe they've not had the same chance as they did in the past, but there aren't as many in the WT as there used to be a few seasons ago when there were more at Trek, BMC and Garmin. If Garmin were to give riders like Eaton and Daniel a chance that would help but out of the Bontrager team that was so hyped 4-5 season ago only Dombo and Craddock (only recently at that) have really shown anything. Boswell seems a little stuck in the Sky Train to progress, Mannion is at Drapac and I don't know how he is doing there but I'd have thought he'd be a WT domestique by now, and might indeed reach that level next year with the merger, no idea what happened to Eastman, Brown I thought would have been stronger than he currently is, I thought he'd be closer to where Craddock is now although I don't really expect him to go much past that, just to have a stronger TT than Craddock.

That said Moser, Formolo, Brown and Craddock who I just mentioned, previously Morton, Gaimon, Slagter, Villella, previously Haas, Previously Dennis, Previously Von Hoff, I think you get the point by now haven't exactly progressed as expected at Garmin which suggests something behind the scenes isn't right with the team apart from Finances and the riders they are bringing in.