AG2R are returning to the top level of cycling for yet another season. They will continue to be led by Nicholas Roche. But there are some other riders which will help them along the way like the aging John Gadret, or Kris Goddaert. Plus they have on of France's best sprinters Lloyd Mondory. Their best young talent is Aurelien Duval who will help the team in the Northern Classics.
Astana
Preview:
Last off-season, Astana added a strong GT rider in Vandenbroeck. Although success for him last season was rare, he will be coming into this season with high hopes of some good results. Most pleasing to the sponsors, Vino is back for maybe his final season. He will likely lead the team in the Ardennes classics, unless Enrico Gasparotto has something to say, still not likely on a do or die, with the Kazakh's mentality, within the team. Their future stat is Dimytro Pavlovsky, who will be a strong sprinter in the future.
Euskaltel - Euskadi
Preview:
Euskaltel have a strong team again this season. Led by Igor Anton their goal should be to win the Vuelta. Anton is quite possibly the strongest climber in the world so he could try to go for other TT lite, Stage races as well. Sicard is still their young hopeful and he looks to be improving his overall abilities.
Francais de Jeux
Preview:
Francais de Jeux this off-season signed on of the great riders of the peloton, Popovych. He shoud lead the team in most climbing tours. But they also picked up Turgot the French sprinter, to add some in-team-rvalry to fuel Hutarovich. But the team hasn't lost its attacking style, and will surely win a lot of Aggresive rider awards this season, as a team.
Garmin - Cervelo
Preview:
They have the 2nd best sprinter in the world. And so they also have a great supporting cast to help him out in the sprints. Garmin has also added a few pieces to help out with their track team, like Rasmussen. Hesjedal will continue to lead the team in the mountains but Deignan will also get his shot at some point. Navardauskus is a real work-horse and should really help out the sprint team a lot. He is also the best young rider on the team as he could become a great Cobbler in the future.
Katusha
Preview:
Katusha have a stock-pile of everything. From Purito and Wiggins for the GT's to Galimzyanov and Bozic in the sprints. And Trofimov, Pozzato and everyone else in-between. Silin is the big hope of the team, but has yet to blossom. Some say he could be the next Gilbert.
Lampre - ISD
Preview:
The team is beginning to lose money and even had to discard some of their bet riders this off-season. Still they kept Cunego and were able to snatch Hushovd on a fairly cheap deal. The team will mainly focus on hilly classics, but with "The God of Thunder" can also do well at Paris-Roubaix now. Which should help out the CQ Ranking issue. As well as classics they also have a deep sprinting team with Bole, Nizzolo, and Rossi all behind Thor. And to think Nizzolo is only 23!Edited by valverde321 on 31-08-2011 23:58
Well they've got Cancellara, Frandy and now Visconti. Maybe this is the year they sweep the classics? Of course Frandy will want to do well at the Tour de France and it will be the only race he wins of the season if he wins that. He looks good to win it, but can Contador or Anton stop him? Leopard have not decided to sign any youth riders, and so they have one 21 year old, who isn't expected to do much of anything. Their next youngest is 25 years old. Denifl so what you see is what you will get.
Liquigas - Cannondale
Preview:
Liquigas, seem to be a little short of money. Sure they kept, Sagan, Nibali and Basso but they lost a bunch of good riders, and lose some depth too! Juraj Sagan is thought to be even better than Peter his brother, so if I were Liquigas, I would hope this is the year he finally shows his stuff or else it might a long season for the Lime Green team. Viviani and Cimolai are Liquigas' future sprinter stars, and they clearly put a lot of trust into them this season as they let go of some other strong sprinters in the process. They might be battling for relegation this season.
Lotto - Ridley
Preview:
The team scrambled to find a secondary sponsor, but lucky they were, and found Ridley. One of the strongest all-round teams, Lotto can do it all. They have Cadel Evans, a strong GC rider, Gilbert, the best one-day-race rider in the world, and Andre Greipel the, -ifonlyIhadn'tmisstimedmysprintandIwouldhavewon, sprinter. With maybe a weaker sprint train than last season, there are questions as to whether he can still compete with Cav and Farrar. Marco Kump has all the makings of a future great, and Lotto have signed him, almost securing them of a great team for years to come.
Movistar
Preview:
Adding Alejandro Valverde was their bigget acquisition. Surely he will lead the team in either the TDF or the Vuelta. Last season he wasn't happy with being the #2 guy behind VDB in Astana so he changed teams, and should benefit from it. Rojas looks strong for the Green Jersey contention, but can he finally win it? The team isn't awfully young, and doesn't look to have anyone who can fill those shoes in a few years. If I were them, I'd start worrying.
Quickstep - Omega Pharma
Preview:
Last seasons performance by Tom Boonen was nothing short of amazing. With some new recruits this year, can they make it a repeat? Dario Cataldo will lead the team in the mountains, and Ciolek should lead the sprints. Their one major weakness is the TT so hopefully they can avoid those as much as possible, and then they should do pretty well.
Radioshack
Preview:
Radioshack added a bunch of new faces this season, after they saw Kloden, and Horner leave. Scarponi should lead the team but Daniel Martin has never been "that guy" but maybe now he has a chance with all the aging, and potentially imminent suspensions to many of the riders on this team, to lead them. For the sprints they have their Portuguese friend Cardoso, who probably wont win anything because Radioshack never work for their sprints, thus why McEwen and Hunter left. As for young talents, just look at Trek - Livestrong, thats so they dont use up "valuable" roster spots (and instead give them to 21 year olds who dont have a single stat in the 60's).
Saunier - Highroad
Preview:
Just when you never thought it would happen, it did! Think of it how you want, but theres a German team back in the PT sponsored by Saunier Duval. The most important rider was of course Mark Cavendish, but after him, a bunch of Germans take the spotlight, Gerdemann, Martin and Kloden, who will all be favourites on the team. Plus you cant forget Peter Velits and Hincapie, who might finally be in the dusk of his career. The team is booming with talent, but some of their very young riders aren't too strong yet. That could be a weakness for them this season.
Saur - Sojasun
Preview:
Jerome Coppel. Johnathan Hivert. Seb Joly. Jimmy Casper. Other than them, they are a really crappy team. Coppel over-performed in the TDF last year, and helped them promote, but they are the favourites to be relegated at the end of the season. Personally I hope they survive, but I dont think its possible. No young talent to speak of either.
SaxoBank - Sungard
Preview:
The Danish team lost it strength when Contador left, but they now have Machado, Sella, and Costa, to fill in the gap a bit. Plus they still have Porte and Navarro, and that means they are still fairly strong for the shorter Stage Races. Saxo has one strong sprinter in JJ Haedo who likes to do well in North America, but other than that nobody to write home about. As it seems like a new trend Saxobank also dont have much young riders to speak of. Just one rider who should be good at Prologues on day, Bjorn Jespersen.
Rabobank
Preview:
To be perfectly honest, I dont know how this team even relegated last off-season. They still have, Breschel, Gesink, Sanchez, Bos, Matthews, Boom, Friere, and Leezer. Wout Poels should be a rider to watch in the future, but this team is looking strong for the season. Matthews was linked to the GreenEDGE squad but he decided to stay with Rabobank, atleast for this season.
And thats it for the PT teams!Edited by valverde321 on 02-09-2011 18:23
tsmoha wrote:
Nice overview of the PT-teams.. well-balanced imo, of course some stronger teams.
Thank you! I didn't have much control over who went where, so maybe PCM is getting better for transfers!
DJP19 wrote:
Great Protour presentation! Are you going to do the same thing with the Conti teams?
Thank you! Yes I will. For all the major Conti teams, and the new teams.
Pellizott2 wrote:
Great work with the team presentation. Very detailed and nice to read.
Thank you! It took me almost 2 hours combined for them, but I'm pretty happy with the result, and overall look.
Edited by valverde321 on 01-09-2011 16:07
Spilak23 wrote:
Very nice story and very nice preview of teams. I really like the Saur-Sojasun squad with their top 6 riders all with the team for 3 years!
Sweet! Thanks bro!
Also because of the amount of CT teams I've held it off until tommorow, which might have two updates. If my drift is being caught.
Edited by valverde321 on 02-09-2011 04:50
nice presentation!!!
saunier highroad looks quite good
one question though: nuyens is in the roster of saxo but below the picture you wrote he s out?!?
soooo im really looking forward to the new teams now
@rorzcp - Yeah for sure. Tonight as I'm busy this afternoon.
@johannes-w - Thank you. I'm also excited for Saunier - Highroad. Also thanks for the Nuyens tip, I dont even know why I said his name there. I'll fix it. Thanks
The main thing for A & S do do this off-season wass keep Danilo Napolitiano, and they did that. Marcato will also continue to ride for the team, which gives them two of the best Italians in the Continental European Tour. The team is getting quite old though, and some youthful additions will have to be made at the end of this season if they want to remain as one of the top Italian teams.
Androni - Giocattoli
Preview:
Androni has added some great faces from the cycling world. Jose Rujano and Sivstov both give the team some needed strength for the GC leader role. Ginnani should amass the most wins for the team again this season, as he's such a versatile rider. Again youth doesn't seem to be a huge hit here.
Bretagne - Schuller
Preview:
Rolland, France's great hope, will ride with the team for another season. There were questions as to whether he would stay here, or possibly move up to FDJ, or Saur-Sojasun, but he remained faithful and will defintely help the team as the clear Team Leader.
Cofidis
Preview:
Cofidis have a very strong squad this year with Taaramae and Dekker. Both riders will lead the team in stage races, while the other French guys hunt for stage wins and KoM's. Dumoulin is still a good sprinter, but Ravard could surprise this season and take a few victories. Barriere is a young French rider, and he looks like he has a future on the Cobblestones.
Colnago - CSF
Preview:
Colnago have made some very good signings, to try and make a push for Promotion. Duarte, Pozzo, Modolo, and Ulissi will lead the team. The rest of the team is made up of a lot of Italian climbers, as well as a few other strong sprinters. They are very well rounded and I think they will be the Top Italian Team in the CT.
Endura Racing
Preview:
Well they signed Kiryienka and Mandri making them a strong team, but personally I was hoping they'd go more British. Still they have a very strong team for a British one........ Bellis will probably get the most wins, after he had that amazing result at the ToB last year. Still I dont see this team doing enough to be a Top 10 team in the CT.
Europcar
Preview:
Europcar's big signings were that of, Gert Steegmans, and Sergio Henao. Both should bring the team a few wins, but the main things is that it will probably be enough to gain entry into the Tour de France as long as they put up good results from January to July. Steegmans essentially replaces Turgot who left, and Henao makes up for Rolland who was lost two seasons ago. All in all I think they could be pretty dominant.
Farnese Vini
Preview:
What a team this is. Kolobnev and Ricco. Thats enough to promote in itself, but just to be sure, Gatto, Rebellin, Garzeli, Guardini and Oss are also here. The team is getting a very bad rep, for one, they ride Cipollini bikes, and two there are a lot of former dopers on this team. The team is pretty much Team redemption. Guardini and Pelucchi are the two young stars of the team, and it will be hard for the team to let them go. Both should be strong sprinters someday.
Geox - TMC
Preview:
Geox actually only made one signing this year, and that was Eze Mosquera. He wasn't doing well with Vacansoleil and needed a change, so Geox fit nicely for him. Geox probably want to ride the Vuelta, but without Sastre and Menchov, they will be weaker than in 2011 and 2012, although Menchov left two years ago. Felline is the future great on the team. Everyone has high hopes of him, and he was getting lots of offers from the bigger teams, but nothing made him feel the need to leave Geox.
Landbouwkrediet
Preview:
Signing Chicchi was their best move. He gives them a #1 sprinter, although he doesn't really fit in being the only Italian. Traksel looks to ride well again this year, after completely surprising everyone the last two years.
Miche
Preview:
Quinziato and Brajkovic lead the team. They want to try and attract some riders away from the bigger teams in order to grow in the next few years. The only downside to this team is the squad is a little small.
Rossiya
Preview:
Watch out Katusha, theres a new team in Russia and they want to beat you. Yes they stole some of your targets, but that will only add to the rivalry. Pavel Brrrrr and Weilinga will lead the team, but the goal is to develop the youth, which they have a lot of.
Sorry to not have it complete tonight like I wanted. This took a lot longer than I thought, but hopefully I can finish it tommorow.
Edited by valverde321 on 03-09-2011 03:57
nice to see dominik nerz as a major Transfer 
