Following the earlier announcement of the merger between the Garmin-Sharp and Cannondale Pro Cycling teams, the new Cannondale-Garmin team was introduced and its new look and feel unveiled in New York on Wednesday.

While many of the team's 27 riders were not present at the event - due to preparations for the Tour Down Under and the Tour de San Luis - most of the team's top riders attended the event. Returning riders Dan Martin, Andrew Talansky and Ben King were present along with new signings Ted King, Davide Formolo and Joe Dombrowski.

"I'm tremendously excited to be part of the Cannondale-Garmin team in 2015. It's not a contrived merger as much a it is the coming together of great organizations, cultures, and traditions. Not to mention phenomenally young talent," Ted King told Roadcycling.com.

"There's a great camaraderie among the entire organization that feels more a family than anything else. We have support of the best, most innovative brands in the industry - they are pushing the envelope from a technical aspect to squeeze out every second available. From head to toe, we're proud of the sponsor support, the team support, staff support, and from that around the globe. This team is going to be a blast to race for," King added.

The Cannondale-Garmin team's kit for the 2015 season features a new and remarkable color scheme of green and black to reflect new partner, Cannondale. The kit retains its signature argyle – a staple of team owner, Slipstream Sports. The fashionable combination of the green and black Castelli clothing, the green POC helmets and the white Cannondale bikes offers the team's professional riders and fans around the world the opportunity to stand out in races and on training rides. The green color on the clothing and helmets adds visibility in traffic while being highly fashionable.

The Cannondale-Garmin riders will wear green POC Octal AVIP MIPS and POC Cerebel helmets in races and training rides to obtain the unique protection offered by POC helmets. The POC Octal AVIP MIPS is based on the award-winning Octal helmet and is the first MIPS-equipped helmet in the pro peloton. The POC Cerebel is a compact aero road helmet specifically designed and engineered to improve aerodynamic performance.

"When we entered the road bike scene about a year ago, we looked to do this together with a top level and well respected team on the WorldTour scene," POC's Ola Melin told Roadcycling.com and added "With the Cannondale Garmin team spirit, values and attitude, the team proved to be just what we had hoped for and we are excited to get the season started together. With the experience of the team and their dedication to victory, we hope that together we will be able to further refine our product range and develop even better, safer and faster products for training and racing."

For the 2015 season, Castelli says it has made improvements in crucial race equipment.

"2015 represents the biggest step forward in Castelli's pro equipment since we started with Slipstream in 2011," Castelli race performance director Andrea Peron explained at the event in New York. "We've concentrated our efforts on improving comfort and aerodynamics with a new short, and making sure the team has a competitive advantage in any adverse weather conditions. There are eleven new garments in the team's equipment line-up, each one the result of development with the riders and staff as well as Castelli's internal research."

Cannondale-Garmin riders will wear a new short, the Free Aero Race Bib short. After three years in development, Castelli's new top-of-the-line race short represents an increase in muscle support and comfort to go along with the wind tunnel tests that show a ten watt savings at fifty km/h. The short has been tested with selected professional riders since last June. The Free Aero Race Bib Short will be the general race short and the team has an updated Inferno short for hot weather.
 
The second key race performance piece sees the team's hot weather Climber's jersey being updated with the fit and cut of the team's Aero Race Jersey. This will give an aero edge every time the road goes upward or the thermometer soars.

2015 will see the team even better equipped for cold and wet racing with the expansion of the Gabba concept into products specific for colder and milder conditions than the classic Gabba, which has fundamentally changed the way the pro peloton dresses for rain and which has been copied by competing teams and clothing manufacturers.

For milder conditions there is the new Gabba Light with a higher breathability back, and the Fawesome Vest that uses the Gabba construction front with a Nano Flex water repellent back in a vest construction for high intensity racing in moderate rain or cool weather. For colder weather there is now the long sleeve Gabba that gives aero protection in the most extreme conditions, and a fully waterproof Gabba-style rain jacket called the Tempesta jacket.

Finally, the team will be carry out its winter training in Castelli's top cool weather gear, the Sorpasso Bib Tight and Trasparente Wind Jersey. According to Castelli, these two pieces provide exceptional protection in the cold with excellent breathability for intense sessions in cool conditions.

"We're excited about bringing our most significant performance improvements in years to help keep Cannondale-Garmin ahead of the pack. Working with partners like Cannondale, POC and Mavic, we're dedicated to giving the riders every possible advantage on the road," Castelli brand manager Steve Smith explained to Roadcycling.com.
 
"We pride ourselves on working with the best partners in the world, and that is exactly what Castelli is," said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports and Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling. "2015 is going to be an exciting season for us, our look is new and our technical clothing is the best yet, but the ethos of the team remains the same and we will animate racing around the world."

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