After the failure of last season's run at the points classification, Air NZ - Alfa Romeo have switched tack. They will be backing their star man: Matteo Fabbro. The Italian doesn't have much of a history, his only notable appearance coming in 2020 when he helped Larry Warbasse to 4th overall. He has a decent amount of climbing support in the form of Evgeny Shalunov and Simone Petilli, both of whom have themselves made the Top 30 in prior editions.

Given Fabbro won't be listed among the favourites there should be plenty of opportunities for Lars van der Haar to join the breakaway, although the polkadots are an unrealistic prospect for him. Exactly what Deins Kanepejs is doing here I am not sure; although Stage 4 is listed as a hilly, the climb to El Ceibal is not one for the puncheurs.

It is not easy to determine exactly who will take on the leadership role in this Cervélo squad. Georg Preidler is the best climber but he will lose buckets of time in the individual timetrials. Ziga Rucigaj is the opposite; he can still climb but where he stands out is his ability to navigate riding against the clock. My pick is Lucas Hamilton: he can climb better than Rucigaj and timetrial better than Preidler but what really draws me to him is his aggression.

Over the past three editions, four of the nine mountain stages have gone to the breakaway. I don't think Hamilton will be able to challenge for the general classification but, provided he loses sufficient time to be given free reign, I have full faith in his ability to secure the team's first stage win.

Looking at this lineup it seems that Booker is aiming to put their fingers in as many pies as they possible can. Dion Smith was at his best when he was granted the freedom to hunt for stage wins; he struggled with the mantle of leadership in last year's ProContinental Tour. It is possible that taking the further step down is just what he needs to recapture his form and he possesses the necessary support in Figueiredo and Egger.

The sponsors will be happy to see Jingbiao Zhao leading the team through the first half of the race. His competition seems weaker than it has been in years past and most of the other squads haven't seen fit to bring a leadout train with them. There is some hope that that will mean we get to see Tosh van der Sande and Guangtong Ma in action; although whether or not that is a boon is open for debate.

Between the two of them Zhao and Smith will provide coverage for the first nine days. On the final day, when most eyes will be turned to the question of the general classification, King Lok Cheung will have a chance to shine. He may be exhausted by several days of climbing but perhaps a Top 10 in the stage will be within reach.

At the peak of their careers the trident of Chamorro, Berhane and Grmay would have been more than enough to dominate this event. They have all managed to finish 6th in previous editions of this race and the former two have also scored a stage win apiece. Unfortunately they are no longer at that peak and must now merely be countered among the innumerable contenders for the Top 20. Perhaps depth will come through or one of them will be given an opportunity to get into the breakaway.

I also worry for Ryan Gibbons. I greatly enjoy the squad that has been assembled around him. Felix English should be more than capable of keeping the train positioned at the front of the peloton and Mikiel Habtom has the necessary skills to lead Gibbons out. The only issue is that the South African doesn't particularly stand out. As with the climbers he falls into the second tier, where there is a significant quantity of competition.

Frederik Frison and Tom Dumoulin are here to contest the final day's individual timetrial. Given the former managed 6th in '22 and the latter was 3rd in last year, expectations will be high. I can not see them doing quite as well this time round. Their performance will suffer from the time spent in the mountains, neither possessing the necessary climbing capabilities nor recovery to avoid harm, and the field is stronger than it has been previously.

Venezuela has always been good for Euskadi - Murias, at least back when they were going by Caja Rural. That has, for the most part, been due to the steady leadership of Aberlardo Ablenado; he came 3rd in '22 and 8th in '23, securing a stage win along the way. Daniel Munoz has a less stellar history: 17th in '21 and 14th in '23. Both results come with asterisks though; he was still developing when he recorded the former and had to ride for Ablenado during the latter.

One might quite sensibly question why I am even bothering to discuss Munoz when he has historically been behind Ablenado in the team's hierarchy. The answer is quite simple: Ablenado is old. His decline is not significant, yet, but it has begun. That might mean that the time has come for leadership to switch over to Munoz, it might not; either way, Euskadi - Murias won't be as high in this year's general classification as they have been previously.

The other two riders of note are Fernando Barcelo and Luca Sterbini. The former could do some damage if he is given any opportunities to enter the breakaway, although the mountains classification would be a stretch. I would consider the latter an outside favourite to take the final stage; provided he doesn't suffer too much during the prior nine days.

The duo of Mikel Iturria and Remy Rochas headline the Euskotron squad for the third year in a row. Bordeaux Métropole might be gone but they are still here. The latter has not produced any amazing performances but he has helped Iturria to 6th in '22 and then the final step of the podium in '23. Domenic Weinstein assisted in '23 while Bruno Armirail was present for '22. The remainder of the squad is new.

So long as Iturria can repeat his prior performances then Imladrik will come away from this one happy. The first few days will be rather unexciting unless someone enters the breakaway, Varsham Darbinyan is unlikely to contest the sprints. The final ITT on the other hand... Weinstein impressed with 4th last time out and I would wager that Nils Politt will also find it quite favourable.

I felt that Gjensidige had cracked the formula last season. They had the best TTer, the second best climber and the third best sprinter. Only Iver Johan Knotten is returning. It will be hard work for him to repeat his stage win, even if only because of the increased internal competition from Brent van Moer. In that respect, at least, hillis can be quietly confident.

Thymen Arensman is also more than capable of taking up the mantle left behind by Sindre Skjostad Lunke. This is probably the strongest field we have seen since Thibaut Pinot and Benat Intxausti battled it out back in 2019 so expecting him to challenge for victory might be a bit much. Still, I am willing to categorise him as an outside favourite.

To the same extent that Gjensidige will be stronger in the ITT they will be weaker in the sprints. Rudy Barbier was here for the 2020 edition - he did not do well. Nor will he stand out this year. Expect him to either get lost in the crowd or otherwise score a surprise victory.

I remember the days when Glanbia Foods Cycling Project came with a squad consisting almost entirely of Irishmen. Now (just) Glanbia boast only two. They are still one of my favourite teams to see in action though. There is a big history to live up to: Andrew Talansky dominated in '21 and Dan Martin came close to taking victory the year before. Add to that a points classification, a mountains classification and four stage wins. Will this squad manage the same? No, but they will try their damnedest.

Gavin Mannion will be hoping to make a triumphant return to the team after securing a stage and the polkadots for the short-lived Adidas - Eurocash project last year. He might be restrained by the depth on this squad as I can see both Kent Main and Charles Matte fighting for a Top 15 finish overall. We might also get to see how Ian Boswell fares in the mountains; the absence of puncheur stages means the legend will be best served by going on the attack.

I was not sold on the squad Hilcona brought last year. As it turned out, I had underestimated Alexander Krieger and overestimated Tsgabu Grmay. The former doubled his tally of stage wins to four, the latter fell to a disappointing 16th. Adrian Nitu added plenty of excitement by participating in the breakaway.

This year my expectations are even lower. Jordi Majoral is more likely to follow in the footsteps of Nitu than Grmay and he is likely to face far stiffer competition. Alexander Krieger is back but most certainly not better than ever. His decline means that I don't expect this squad to take much from this race.

I rate both Marc Goos as somebody who might do surprisingly well in the General Classification. I assume that Marcus Culey has been brought in to follow in the footsteps of Marildo Yzeiraj, who won the second stage in the team's debut, but I do not envision the Australian reaching quite the same levels of success. There is also no Jan-Andre Freuler to provide excitement when it comes to the mountain breakaways, so it is all in on Goos. Not quite as good as if Chiarello could have made a return, but those are the ProContinental rules for you.

Early predictions have Newton Foundation as a sure shout for promotion. Most of the fervour is a from Matteo Jorgenson but only a fool would discount the potential of Iñigo Elosegui. He comes into this edition as one of the favourites, having previously secured the youth classification with 9th overall. The only concern is his poor ability on the flat. It shouldn't harm him too much, as it is only on the fourth stage that the he will have to worry about riding through valleys, but it is still something to look out for.

Vadim Pronskiy joins the legendary Angel Madrazo in providing something of a supporting cast for the mountains. The first few days will be delegated to Bram Welten, who could do rather well for himself in the sprints provided he finds the right wheels. Emilien Viennet will be solely concerned with the final ITT; he could be considered as one of the favourites but he may be hamstrung by his poor climbing.

Sauber have been a fixture of Táchira for years now. The high point came when Piter Campero won the GC in '21 thanks to an excellent performance in the closing ITT. The Bolivian has let things slip since that point, dropping to 4th in '22 and then 7th in '23. It would take something spectacular for him to make this year's Top 10.

It has never been the point man that has made Sauber's appearances so iconic. Instead it has been their impressive displays of depth. They had five (5!) riders in the Top 30 in '23, which was more than enough to secure the team classification. Jamal Hibatullah was 17th and Mingrun Chen was 29th. I can't see things being quite as peachy this year. Much of the squad are talents who will struggle to keep up in the mountains. Perhaps Yannis Voisard will make a breakaway or three?

Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh were quite abysmal last year. The highlight was probably Quinten Hermans lighting things up in the breakaways, even if nothing came of his efforts. The good news is that this year looks set to be a far superior.

I like Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev. He managed 7th here in '22 and should be capable of securing another finish in the Top 10. He has plenty of support, with Robin Carpenter standing out as someone who could stand to do rather well for himself. Andrea Manfredi was King of the Mountains in '19, but a lot has changed since then.

Dylan Page should be one of the many who are capable of contesting the win on the flat stages, although I would not go so far as to classify him as a favourite. I also think that Rohan Dennis has the potential to pull of an upset in the final day's ITT even if the possibility is rather unlikely.

Jakstar seems to take something of a go-big or go-home approach to Táchira. He doesn't always have a squad attending - not sending a team in '20, '21 and '23 - but when he does they are always competing right at the top. Steele van Hoff started things off nicely with a stage win all the way back in 2018, Robert Kiserlovski adding to that on his way to 4th the following year, before Yuriy Vasyliv secured them a podium placing in 2022.

This year the team will be hoping to go one better. George Bennett has arrived. The Kiwi has won overall in America and a stage at le Tour de France so it would do him well to add the closest thing the Continental-level has to a Grand Tour to his palmarès. He will be one of the favourites, even as age starts to catch up to him.

Lemus Davila is obviously an excellent superdomestique, having secured 4th here last year. There isn't any depth behind him though so the squad could very quickly end up in danger. Cameron Scott will have the opportunity to contest the sprints, but Mudgway probably won't do much more than pull the peloton.

Würth MODYF did not do half bad riding in support of Iñigo Elosegui last year. The Basque controlled the U25 classification as soon as the race reached the mountains and was even able to manoeuvre his way into the Top 10 overall. He is now riding in new colours so we must instead turn to Sakari Lehtinen as the leading example from the inaugural outing. The Finn was a constant presence in the breakaway; with any luck we will get to see him lighting things up once again.

Harm Vanhoucke is the Elosegui replacement. He might actually be a slightly better rider but unfortunately the competition is going to be much stiffer. Victor Campenaerts and Kevin Predatsch have both made their way on to the final day's podium in recent editions so we will have to keep an eye on them. Theo Reinhardt is a legend but he might now be too old to take part in the fight for green.

In can be tempting to write off this team at the first glance but I have them as a dark horse to take over Sauber's role as deepest scorers. Either of James Knox or Jaka Primozic could be in with an outside shout at a Top 10 if they are granted leadership. Cristian Munoz should make the Top 30 and Matteo Sobrero could surprise some people, especially in the final TT.

The rest of the team is something of a disappointment though. Gal Glivar and Kantaphon Kunkumpai are young; they may grow in to solid riders in time but their current contributions will be minimal. Rasmus Quaade and Michael Vingerling are at the opposite end of the scale: both are past their primes. For Quaade that means he will offer even less than his younger counterparts. The situation is not quite as dire for Vingerling. It will be touch-and-go but, with some luck, he will be able to compete in the finalés of the first few stages.

If we ignore the elephant in the room for just a moment then Zain - Omantel has brought quite a strong squad to their inaugural appearance in Venezuela. Milos Borisavljevic has the mold of somebody that should be quite securely challenging for the Top 10. Last year Mathieu la Lavandier was one of the most exciting attackers in the mountains and he is now joined by his twin.

The presence of Richard Carapaz changes the outlook for the aforementioned trio. It is unfortunate that we will not get to see the La Lavandier duo fighting for stage wins but they have more important duties this year. They will be tasked with protecting Carapaz, keeping him out of the wind and chasing down any dangerous moves. Borisavljevic will probably be sucked in to this as well, as Maurice Ballerstedt, Abduulhadi Alajmi and Nicolo Burrati are not going to be capable of much work. Nonetheless, Carapaz has to be one of the favourites to take the overall win.

There are also concerns for Riccardo Minali. He is one of the strongest sprinters in attendance. In fact, despite concerns about his well-roundedness, he will probably be considered the strongest sprinter in attendance - a characterisation which brings with it an obligation to build a train. Unfortunately, he doesn't have anybody to fill it out. Nor does he have any rouleurs to control the breakaway. There must be fears that he will end up underperforming.

Jakstar22 wrote:

Hopefully we can compete! Need points here considering we haven't been able to score as highly at the start of the season.

This is a big goal of ours and we should be able to do well considering our set up.

Good luck everyone! Should be a really exciting race.