A couple of familiar faces, a couple of new faces, these are the guys we are counting on to bring in the big points! Over the different types of terrain our leaders need to excel against their competition, and while Summerhill will continue to be missed leading us on the cobbles others have come in to lead the charge elsewhere.
Ryan Eastman - General Classification
The leader of Azteca's GC ambitions continues to be Ryan Eastman. A good but somewhat disappointing season last year is behind him as he worked hard training to be better for this season improving on both the mountains and timetrials. He will need to prove he can lead this team in the stage races against a more difficult opposition this year.
Johan Esteban Chaves - Puncheur
The hills will continue to be the domain of Chaves for Azteca. The competition will be tough but last years 4th overall CT scorer will need to find similar form again this season and bring back a haul of points for us to survive. His overall ability hasn't changed much but we did bring in some more depth on the hills to support him this season.
RaÂúl Granjel Cabrera - Sprinter
One of the new faces to the team, but an legendary face to the MG. Cabrera will be the first sprinter since Farrar to be expected to grab some points at the end of the flat races. A good set of supporting attributes should help him be in the right position to have a go for the line is almost any race, which will be needed as he will have very little help in most cases.
Luke Keough - Sprinter
Another new face, and while we classify him as a sprinter, he is very different from Cabrera. Keough will be looking to grab points where prologues exist and then hold a top spot for as long as possible. He like Cabrera will often be on his own, and with only one exception, never fielded in the same races.
Obviously the biggest excitement for this team will be a trip to the Vuelta. Our first grand tour as a team, and a big hope that such an event can propel our team towards the original goals of the sponsors, promoting cycling in the Americas. Such a high profile event should surely give a boost to those ambitions. With that we didn't slack on putting a competitive team together for the event.
Without further ado here is the Azteca-NBCSN startlist!
Ryan Eastman - General Classification
Johan Esteban Chaves - Puncheur
RaÂúl Granjel Cabrera - Sprinter
