Nat.	Team	Age	Nationalities	AVG	MO	CB	TT	SP	HL
	AG2R	29	7	74,44	77	72	72,4	74,4	76,4

Captains : Romain Bardet, Jean-Christophe Peraud and Carlos Betancur
Team Manager : Vali
Expected Finish : 1st

Being my favorite team since I started watching cycling 10 years ago, I've always admired their stability and their always dominating skills in the mountains, which Vali has managed to preserve.

Even though this team has been relegated from the WT, they've still managed to keep their squad and this means they have some of the best stage racers on their team, even though relegating should've made this team a lot worse.

I think they will have short stay at the PCT and their skills in stage races like Paris - Nice and in GT's where they're mountain squad can take Top 5's in every race, which is spectacular for a PCT team. All they really need is the strong sprinter to finish things off in the flat and the transfers has been small changes, but overall an general improvement.

My Opinion

AG2R will have a hard time failling and with a possible Monument winner in Betancur and an OP Mountain train, I think they will be hard to ignore for the big WT teams and this relegation, might've just made their season a lot better, but still also hard in terms of fighting for Wild Cards.

I've always loved this team and Vali has managed to create a strong squad, though a good sprinter and some younger talents is still required for a max rating!

Nat.	Team	Age	Nationalities	AVG	MO	CB	TT	SP	HL
	Androni	27,5	9	71,72	75,2	64,6	70,8	72	76

Captains : Rein Taaramae, Delfi Cervero and Ivan Basso
Team Manager : Luis Leon Sanchez
Expected Finish : 7th

When you remove the custom riders from the team, nationality wise the team is worth crediting for keeping it's Italian-South American theme, but still I think a team should get custom riders for their skills and not nationality.

Androni is one of the teams, which have been hit by the WT reduction the most and this is something that they have to live with in this preview, but I can praise them as the 3rd best PCT team of last year and I do like their potential for this season.

They're gonna do well in the Giro and with their current squad, this might be a place where we can see the full potential of Androni. They got some aggresive riders on their team and I think that they are a team, which will not be hard to miss. Everything kinda depends on their consistency and the magnitude of Cervero's abillity to get an stage race win.

My Opinion

I like their team and I think we're gonna see the same aggressive team, which we can only hate or love! Overall a strong team and I doubt seeing them in the bottom of the rankings, but as said everything depends on their leaders general results and I do see them taking another surprise win somewhere this season.

I won't give them full scale for keeping a theme, but their team will be fun to watch and I think many will agree with that

Nat.	Team	Age	Nationalities	AVG	MO	CB	TT	SP	HL
	Bardiani	25,3	6	70,92	70,6	64	70,6	75,8	73,6

Captains : Sonny Colbrelli, Elia Viviani and Fabian Brookes
Manager : The Hobbit
Expected Finish : 12th

It's always been a pleasure watching this team in action and usually we'll see tons of breakaways when the Giro comes around, they're renowned for their aggresive and young riders, which usually covers the Italian country on a full scale, but the theme has been changed over the break.

I don't think that this change has made the team better, but it has made the team more enjoyable for the managers dreams and needs, which I can only respect cause, there are managers who are trying to build the best team possible and someone like The Hobbit, wants a team he can enjoy managing.

The team probably had one of the best Transfer Seasons, in that sense they used their available resources and managed to turn the team upside down, ending with a team consisting of strong sprinters, to cause that renowned aggressiveness into a different area and terrain.

My Opinion

Though the "other" Bardiani team was one of my favorites, I think that everyone has different goals with their teams and theme wise you can only credit them. Results will be hard to get and therefore they can only surprise in the rankings, but the team's history will give them that extra push.

Nat.	Team	Age	Nationalities	AVG	MO	CB	TT	SP	HL
	Caja Rural	27,7	6	70,28	75,2	61,8	67,4	72,4	74,6

Captains : Julian Arredondo, Jose Alarcon and Ricardo Martinez Machado
Team Manager : Smowz
Expected Finish : 13th

Julian Arredondo was the biggest rider in the Draft Picks and I think that justice reached it's finishing line, when we saw Arredondo joing Caja Rural. They are the most underrated team in the PCT and I think that their potential can get them even further up the rankings.

They have a compact squad, which can do well in many different terrains and I think that the Vuelta just got an strong team on the starting list. Arredondo can be upgraded to a beast in those two season parts and I think that an Top 10 for such small team is more true than anything, while they can dominate the sprints with Machado and the hills with Alarcon on the same time.

The support might not be the greatest, but the team only has a few races, that they have to do well in, so the pressure will be swift but big at the same time. I think that this team can grow into a strong team over this season.

My Opinion

Full credit to the manager for keeping an Hispanic theme to this wonderful team and I guess, that they're able to finish even higher if they do well in the spanish races in particular. I think that we will see some great results for this season, coming from this team.

All the manager need to do, is having some active riders and do the right upgrades for making Arredondo into a living beast. I love this little compact team and I see great potential coming from them.

Nat.	Team	Age	Nationalities	AVG	MO	CB	TT	SP	HL
	CCC Polsat	26,7	9	72,08	73,4	68,6	72,4	73,4	72,6

Captains : Matteo Trentin, Andre Schneider and Johann Nokkvason
Team Manager : sgdanny
Expected Finish : 14th

The team had an rough last season and had a small budget to improve on, the end result was an all-round team, which tried to copy Androni's approach, so if you read that part, I think you know what I mean. They used the small budget well and managed to get some good deals in.

Some of the older adventures has returned home to their team and it's an gathering almost complete, but I that the only problem is that they failed to get the Big leader on the team and their main terrain is the hills, but the team is far from where they want to be.

Excellent Race Planning and consistency is the key ingredient and the team will mostly be gathering points from breakaways all season. They will have one of the hardest times getting their goals completed and that is why the big leader in the hills is still needed, but let's see if Schneider can fill those shoes.

My Opinion

They will be fighting a long the unmanaged team all season, but they might get a few results on the table in the end and the team is still filled with some great talent. Aggresive warfare is their best choice and I think that fighting for that is enough for them to do well.

trekbmc wrote:
Wait, Basso is a leader of Androni??? Isn't Lipawsky a bit more of a leader there?

sgdanny wrote:

I can't base something on something, which have never been seen into action Also a Captain is necesarily the best, but also the one with the most experience

sgdanny wrote:

When you remove the custom riders from the team, nationality wise the team is worth crediting for keeping it's Italian-South American theme, but still I think a team should get custom riders for their skills and not nationality.

The Hobbit wrote:
...not trying to outscore my rivals...