Ahead of the 2010 season, there were two notable new British teams created - in contrasting styles and aims. For one, the target was to win the Tour de France in the next five years, and for the other, simply to be attending the Tour in five years time would be enough.
As it turned out, these targets would have to be altered - with a significant development in the world of cycling on December 31st 2009.
The theories swept across the globe.
The Benelux nations believed that at long last the appeal of cyclocross had impacted upon road cycling - although the Australians insisted that it was in fact track cycling. Some fool even suggested that Cycle-Ball was set to take over.
Then they changed their mind - it was infact Artistic cycling that was to be the new craze.
The French believed that at last their theory was right. All cyclists must have tested positive, except the French. But then the Americans pointed out that the French riders were involved and that it was simply impossible anyway, Lance Armstrong is the most tested athelete in the entire universe - he is as clean a rider as is possible to be.
Some even believed it led to an extra-terrestrial event that saw all cyclists be brainwashed.
Whatever the reason, the outcome was clear - thousands of professional cyclists and teams had suddenly decided enough was enough, and abandoned the sport.
Except the race organisers - who still wanted their races to take place.
And except the British and Irish riders, who mysteriously were not affected.
Thus the problem was solved. The races would all continue, and the teams and riders? All from the British Isles with only a few exceptions.
20 ProTour teams were selected: 100% Me, An Post - Sean Kelly Team, Cervelo - Roche, Corley Cycles, Cylepremier.com - Metaltek, Endura Racing, Garmin - Lotto, Giant Racing Team, Halfords Bike Hut, Team Ireland, Isle of Man - Microgaming, Kuota Road CC, Motorpoint - Marshalls Pasta, Pendragon Le Col Colnago, Team Raleigh, Rapha Condor, Sigma Sport - Specialized, Team Sprocket, Team Sky, and Wilier BigMaggys.com Prendas.
For Team Sky it was a case of not winning the Tour de France within 5 years, more a disaster if they fail to win the Tour de France in 2010 alone, aswell as a host of other races aswell.
The other new team? They were Team Raleigh, and 30 years since Joop Zoetemelk won the Tour de France for the TI-Raleigh team, they will now return to the top tier of professional cycling.
Story with Team Raleigh. Hard Difficulty. Using my British DB.
We move now to January 5th. In two weeks a new era of cycling will begin at the Tour Down Under, and the teams are beginning to present themselves to the world's media - many of whom have no idea who any of the teams and riders are, but they'll learn soon enough, they have no choice.
And the first team to be presented, is none other than Team Raleigh.
The team consists of 10 riders: 7 Englishmen, 1 Welshman, 1 Australian and 1 German. We are also quite a young team, 8 of the 10 riders are 24 or younger.
[img-r]https://www.teamraleigh.co.uk/images/TheTeam/RiderIcon/LiamHolohan.jpg[/img-r]
Signed from Rapha Condor, Liam Holohan will be our sprinter this season. He hopes to make good use of acceleration to challenge for victories, although it will not be easy. Our hope is that not every race will see Swift or Cavendish in attendance, as then the competition swings wide open - and the opportunity arises for Liam to strike.
The Welsh national champion, Dale Appleby, will proudly ride this year in the red and green Welsh stripes, and is our #2 Stage racer. He will likely lead us in the Vuelta, as well as some of the smaller ProTour stage races like Catalunya.
Next up is James Stewart, our 2nd sprinter, who will be hoping to provide Holohan with a good lead out throughout the season, as well as pursuing his own ambitions.
At 31, Tom Barras is the team's oldest rider and will be our road captain this year. He will provide strong support on the climbs, while also holding a great acceleration that could prove useful in breaking away in search of glory.
[img-r]https://www.teamraleigh.co.uk/images/TheTeam/RiderIcon/danielShand.jpg[/img-r]
Another climber, Daniel Shand is more likely to be aiding Fleeman or Appleby than leading the team himself - but if called upon, he certainly has the ability to give it a good go and should be a valuable asset to us this season.
Also 19, Richard Handley is the time trialist in the squad. Unfortunately, that doesnt mean too much - and he is not going to be a threat to the likes of Millar, Wiggins and Thomas against the clock.
Finally, we have Julian Rammler and Peter Smith. Julian is one of only 2 Germans remaining in professional cycling teams - while Peter is one of 6 Australians.
Win Paris-Nice
Possibly the most challenging of the goals, Dan Fleeman will attempt it for us, but the Grand Tours are his goal
Top 5, Catalunya
Dale Appleby's main races come in Spain this year, and this will be one of them. A Top 5 here may not be easy, but we'll give it a good go.
Top 10, Fleche Wallone
Another that only really Fleeman can target. His form will be building for the Giro, but Fleche might come a tad too soon
Top 10, Tour de France
The lack of TT kilometres should help Fleeman here, and with a strong team support, this is a goal that we really want to achieve
Top 5, Clasica San Sebastian
Could well be one for Fleeman again, we will have to assess post-Tour which rider is in the best condition
Leading Sprinter, Tour of Britain
Liam Holohan's race of the season, we hope. We also hope that neither Swift or Cavendish will show up
Of course, Raleigh were not the only team to present themselves.
January 6th
It was a very slick affair at Team Sky as David Brailsford confidently read out a long list of races - it sounded as if he was listing the entire calendar, but no - it was the list of races that he believed his team would win.
The team leader is of course Bradley Wiggins, a late signing for the team. Rumour has it that he actually signed for a different team every week in the last months of 2009, but since most of them have dissapeared, Sky are the lucky team to have him. Along with Wiggins, the ominous looking climbing team includes British champion Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome, Peter Kennaugh, Stephen Cummings and British-born Italian Dario Cioni.
Ben Swift is the team's sprinter, having escaped captivity from an old Russian Gulag - where he had spent December having refused a new deal with the Katusha team. He will have Russell Downing alongside him, while all-rounder Ian Stannard rounds off the British aspect of the team.
Sky refused to allow any other team to have their presentation on the same day as them, but today 3 separate teams are ready to reveal themselves.
The Scottish Endura team have expanded this season - a move that was desperately needed. Last year they were entirely Scottish, and did not do particularly well - until the mid season signings of Oliphant and Creber boosted them.
This year, there are almost as many Englishman as Scotsman, with Rob Hayles and Ian Wilkinson becoming two of the team's key riders. There is also Welshman Rob Partridge and the signing of two non-British riders. American hardman - or is it the New Zealand national champion - Jack Bauer, and Frenchman Alexandre Blain. The announcer tells that as Blain rode for Cofidis before, he must be an awesome rider - we're not so sure, and he has never ridden a Grand Tour.
Over in the Isle of Man, there were no Scottish riders in sight. Or any English riders. Or any Welsh riders. Or any Frenchmen. No, this is Team Isle of Man - Microgaming, with a Squad of 14 Manx riders.
But in reality, there's only 2 riders in the squad of particular interest. One is Jonathan Bellis, who has thankfully recovered from his horrible Vespa accident, and the other is his good friend and a well known dominant sprinter - Mark Cavendish. Sprints may not be as easy without Columbia, his team certainly arent as strong, but if he gets to a kilometre to go anywhere near the front - the other riders in the race have surely lost already.
We move on now to the Giant Racing Team - who should be fairly competitive and consistent in the climbs, even if they may not be winning regularly. David McCann is an experienced rider, and leads the team, and the likes of Alex Coutts, James Spragg, Tomas Swift Metcalfe, Tom Faiers, Paul Esposti and Hamish Haynes all provide able support.
Also here are former British time trial champion Michael Hutchinson, and Alaistair Kay - the man who famously beat Roberto Heras at the 2008 folding bike World Championships.
As much as Sky would like to think that they will steamroll the season - and they do like to keep us informed with daily boastful press releases all about their marginal gains, and Jaguar team cars - next up are two teams who can provide a serious challenge to Sky in the mountains of the Grand Tours.
Cervelo - Roche are an Irish team that combines aspects of last year's Cervelo team with Nicolas Roche and a few other Irishmen. Many of those in the press box who are not working for Sky are tipping Roche to have an incredible season - not only will he be favourite for the Ardennes, but can put up a strong challenge for either of the three Grand Tours. Another rider who might hope to also lead in a Grand Tour, on the back of a fine 2009 Vuelta performance, is Philipp Deignan. Mountains are his strength - and the Giro route may suit him, if he opts to ride there.
The trio of Roger Hammond, Jeremy Hunt and Dan Lloyd provide the qualities to make this team a real all-round squad. All 3 should be strong on the Cobbles and Sprints, while Lloyd is also good on the hills.
As in effect Dan Fleeman's former team, we will of course hope to better them as much as possible - but to be realistic, it would take a very good race for Fleeman to beat either of Roche or Deignan on the climbs.
Garmin - Lotto are another team who have combined together and sought out new riders in order to survive in the cycling world of 2010. David Millar was particularly key, in using his links as one of Garmin's team owners, and another strong climbing unit has been formed.
Charly Wegelius and Dan Martin will have to fight it out amongst themselves over who gets to lead in which race. Logically, you would expect Wegelius in the Giro and Martin in the Tour, but logic is not always a common thing in cycling. Millar himself is also very capable of taking a great result - maybe not the 3 week races, but certainly the week long ones. Also here are promising young sprinter Adam Blythe, and promising young time trialist Alex Dowsett.
It's Magnus Backstedt day today, as two teams that he holds an interest in are announced.
Firstly, the longnamed Wilier - BigMaggys.com - Prendas team
Marcin Bialoblocki leads the team, with good support expected from Will Bjergfelt. Mountain Biker Billy-Joe Whenman is looking forward to transferring over to the road, while Matt Rowe will hope to grab some results in the sprints.
Team Sprocket meanwhile are set to be the first ever Swedish team in the Tour de France, and are one of the few teams left with more non-Brits than Brits. Alex Wetterhall and Russell Hampton lead the team, but looks out for Guernsey's Tobyn Horton.
Rapha Condor - Sharp, the Men in Black, were one of the strongest British domestic teams - and are expected to transfer well to the global stage, with a number of strong riders.
Kristian House, Dan Craven and Chris Newton will lead the team in the climbs, with hills in particular being the strength of Rapha Condor this year, with Jon Tiernan-Locke, Tom Southam and Australians Darren Lapthorne and Zakkari Dempster as support here.
Look out for Rapha Condor in the sprints aswell, with the two-pronges attack of Dean Downing and Graham Briggs. Strength in depth also comes here from Matt Cronshaw, and a 3rd Australian - Dean Windsor.
Next up are Pendragon Le Col Colnago. The experienced Yanto Barker is team leader, and a good all rounder, but the man likely to be the biggest points scorer is David Clarke. A strong climber, Clarke could be a close rival for the likes of our Fleeman this season.
Rhys Lloyd is another to watch in the climbs, while Chris Opie and Casey Munro will ensure the Pendragon jersey is spotted during the bunch sprints.
While the loss of Russell Downing to Sky did leave a notable hole in the team, some strong signings over the winter should endure that the Motorpoint Marshalls Pasta team remain close to the front of the action.
Malcolm Elliott simply refuses to ever retire it seems, and now after some 20 years he returns to Grand Tour action as one of the team's sprinters alongside Olympian Ed Clancy. Another rider with a good sprint is Ian Bibby, a strong all rounder who is a promising prospect in British Cycling - and the same can also be said of Andy Tennant, Jonathan McEvoy and Peter Williams.
Team leader Simon Richardson is an important signing for Sigma Sport, who will be able to compete in many of the top races now thanks to the strong climber. Ardennes may well be a target for Richardson, with support in the hills from Stephens, Murray and Dutch time trialist Sybrandy. For sprints, Sigma Sport's hopes rest in the hands of Adams and Last.
A team of mountain bikers, it will be interesting to see how well the likes of Liam Killeen and Oli Beckinsale can perform in the big tours for the Halfords BikeHut squad.
One week to go until the Tour Down Under now, and just 6 teams have yet to be presented - and here are some of them now.
Shown above in their 2009 form, Team 100% Me is in effect, the British talent team. The likes of Bellis, Swift, Kennaugh and Dowsett have all emerged from here in recent years. The team's leaders this year were all here in 2009, but now have the opportunity to step up - Rowe, Rowsell and Fenn.
For the sprints, the Kuota Road CC team has two Dutchmen - Janssen and former speed skater De Bruin - while for the climbs theres is Jon Mozley and the brother of Dan Martin, Tom Martin.
Sprinter Tony Gibb is the key man in this CyclePremier.com - Metaltek team, and they will look to him to accumalate as many ranking points as possible.
Their honorary president is F1 driver Mark Webber but with only Simon Gaywood as a stand out rider, it could be a tough year for Corley Cycles.
It's now over to Ireland for the final 2 presentations - the flight to Australia awaits.
Matt Brammeier gets around a bit. Born in Liverpool, he represented Wales at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and is now the Irish National Champion and leading the An Post Sean Kelly Team. Other key riders are the Belgian Eeckhout, Brit McNally and Irishmen including O'Loughlin, O'Brien and McConvey.
It will be somewhat of a baptism of fire for the fairly young Irish national team. Led by the very promising Philipp Lavery, alongside Cole, McAllister and Prendergast - results arent going to come easily.
Raleigh
Tom Barras is set to lead us Down Under, with Fleeman, Appleby, and Shand all being saved for more important races. Our Australian will be here of course, as well as our sprinting duo Holohan and Stewart,
Others
Dan Martin, Graham Briggs and Roger Hammond have all publically revealed that they will participate in the season opener.
Wildcards
Team Sky+ HD and Hargroves Cycles have received wildcards. Sky+ HD is a track team, experimenting on the road this season - Chris Hoy seeing if anything can be achieved for him outside of the Velodrome. The Hargroves team contains the British Junior champion Dan Mclay, and the Welsh Junior champion Owain Doull - along with 2009 National cyclocross champ Jody Crawforth.
Race Profiles
Thanks to a combination of Inflikted, Waghlon and Crommy, the race will use its proper profiles.
Edited by SportingNonsense on 10-08-2010 14:22
