Season preview – World Tour
With the season coming to a start we’ll just give you a quick rundown of the World Tour Teams 2014. Starting with the WT-winners of 2013 and going down the ranking.
Stats of the top-22 riders can be seen in the spoilers
RadioShack – Nissan
With both
Boonen and
Cancellara the team should be a major factor in the cobbled classics, though they won’t have much support. All in all a lot of winners here and in spite of losing
Andy Schleck this is a team capable of winning pretty much every race on the calendar.
Liquigas – Cannondale
After losing among others
Peter Sagan this is now a team highly focused on stage races with
Nibali being a major favourite for especially the Giro.
Team Gazprom (former Katusha)
Failing to extend the contract of
JoaquÃm RodrÃguez the Russian team is going to have a tough year ahead of them. This season is all about survival as it overall is one of the weakest rosters on the World Tour.
Rabobank Cycling Team
The Dutch talent is starting to bloom with
Mollema and
Kruijswijk. In spite of losing last years star
Tom Boonen this is a highly competitive site with
Kittels comeback and the signings of
Evans and
Boom.
Team Saxo – Tinkoff
The team has lost the best Danes, but have compensated by signing some strong domestiques and resigning with
Contador. At the same time they have continued to lay more emphasis on the Russian aspect of the team. Not much of a cobbles team though…
Team Vodafone (former Sky)
Three of the best sprinters in the world on the same team is gonna win the British site a lot of stages. In spite of a lot of strong climbers the team is clearly lacking in terms of a proper GT-captain.
Euskaltel – Euskadi
Probably the strongest climbing team in the peloton. They can’t do much else than that though…
With the new signings and the development of their talents this team is now much more competitive on climbs and hills compared to last season. Last year was surprisingly good for the team and in spite of
Hushovds aging this team should be able to match that season.
Lotto Belisol Team
Looks like it’s pretty much up to three riders to get the points on this team. They will be an important factor in sprints and on the hills but with no real climbers it could turn into a struggle if one or more of the captains fail to meet their targets.
Omega Pharma – QuickStep
A real classics team, though
Gilbert is the only top-shelf rider left on the team. The World Champion needs to show a lot more than he did last season if the Belgian site are to remain on the World Tour.
Team ISD – Ferrari (former Lampre – ISD)
Scarponi rarely has a really bad season. That combined with the signing of
Ben Swift and the emergence of
Diego Ulissi as a Top class rider last season this is a team you have to consider a contender in most races. They may have lost
Cunego, but the replacements should be ready to take over.
Movistar Team
All eyes are on Columbian supertalent
Nairo Quintana this year after
Valverde has left the team. It’s a make or break season for them.
BMC Racing Team
It’s up to the old guys here. After losing two of the teams most important riders last season to Rabobank and failing to sign any real replacements the Swiss-based team is going to have a tough season.
Astana Pro Team
A good mix of nationalities here.
Van den Broeck and
Gasparotto will make sure to get some points, but the team seems to be lacking a real high-scorer. Still enough riders on the next level to be able to get some decent results and secure survival.
Kessiakoff gets special mention as the dark horse of the team.
Garmin – Sharp
For a long time it looked like the American team would be focusing on sprinters and second-grade climbers. But the last minute signing of
RodrÃguez should make the team less in danger of relegation compared to last season.
Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
After a very strong 2013 the Italian team was promoted to the World Tour. With the signings of
Horner and
Cunego they might even have a chance of staying up.
Orica – GreenEdge
Looks to be another hard season for the Australian team. They have a lot of hope for
Andy Schleck, but he doesn’t have much support. Maybe a good thing after a season where he often ended up fighting against team mates?
Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team
A strong 2013 resulted in promotion for
Vacansoleil. Unfortunately it also resulted in better offers for most of their captains. They have brought in Spanish veteran
Valverde but a lot of riders need to take it to a new level if the team is to survive on the World Tour.
Andy Schleck
John Degenkolb
Leonard Duque
Pierre Rolland
Thor Hushovd
Volvo – STARK 
, too bad Thor isn't on the podium.
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