We have yet again tried to look at the different teams within this world of cycling, and to find the upcoming stars we have to look a bit down in the category and into the Continental Tour. This group have some very interesting teams, but more interesting that ever, who is the tactical brain here? There are a lot of teams here and planning will be as essential as ever. We have, however looked in a completely prosaic point of view to describe the teams basic chances of promotion.
Team 100% Me:
An interesting team sharing the manager of Pro Tour champions Accumalux. This is a british team, and that's quite easily recognizable with no less than 18 british riders and 2 irish ones.
The team has been build around a good level of hilly riders. Hassen Ben Nasser is beginning to show strenght and together with the irish duo of Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin they should be up there on every occasion.
The teams star rider is russian Michail Ignatiev, one of the best Timetriallists in the world. Ignatiev is also a very good hilly rider and a decent sprinter. There's no doubt that he will be the very reason this team will be placed where-ever they will.
Combined with Bradley Wiggins the team is looking to the flat smaller tours with timetrials inplemented.
In the cobbled sections Adam Blythe must be among the top guys in the Continental Tour, and with help from fellow countryman Andrew Fenn the team will have every reason to believe in victories.
For the sprints the team has two of the most talented riders in Peter Kennaugh and Ben Swift. An amazing duo, who will be looking to win every flat stage they attend.
Overall this team is probably not the best in the CT this year, but next year, they probably are!
Like 100% Team Alpro is a team for the future. It is little with existing quality, but for years to come this could be a fairly interesting team.
At the moment the best rider going up is Julián Rodas. The colombian climber could provide some important points, but it's just down the ladder the real captain is. Jianhua Ji is probably the most gifted chinese rider ever seen. He will probably not win the Tour de France, but he will most definately become good enough to ride in the Pro Tour. This year, however he will be racing as much as possible to gather experience.
When it comes to the hills this team only has one rider. Tanel Kangert. This young estonian rider will already this year become an important part of the squad, but he is also a man for the future. Many believes Kangert could become a top 20 Hilly classics rider. It's still uncertain whether or not he has what it takes to bring his level to the top, but he has got the talent.
Looking at the timetrials Maarten Tjallingii is the best bid for a victorious rider. He is a gifted rider with an extremely big engine. He is not the most focused rider on the other hand, and that might cause him problems. Both Tjallingii and Kangert can win Timetrials and small flat stageraces, but they will be hard fought as the CT is stronger than ever.
For the cobbles the team has french Damien Gaudin, who could provide the team with some points on a good day. Gaudin is the typical french cobbler, who is very strong on the flats, but if it starts to hill up he will be dropped. He is also not the best finisher, so he will have to determine a win from way out.
The teams sprinting capacity lies with Dan Holloway and Gert Dockx. Both capable sprinters, with more to come. It's unlikely that they can threaten the big guns this year, but especially Holloway has got a good future ahead of him.
Overall this team will be struggleing to do much, but also this team will be very interesting next year.
Although the first name you meet is Levi Leipheimer, you have to question his quality. The rider haven't been dealing with top races the past years and looks way beyond the best. Yet he is still a decent climber, who could do some good results.
After Leipheimer the team has some semistrong climbers featuring Ivan Santaromita, Hubert Dupont, Yukihiro Doi and Juan Gomis Lopez. All riders who have reached their potential, and are lacking just a bit to be among the good climbers.
For the hilly races the best offer will be Marc de Maar and Eduard Vorganov. Both strong riders, who are able to beat the best, if they can cling onto the last group, but we have to be realistic and say that both are sub-top hilly riders who will struggle to get much points. - This was all written before the teams final signing. Hilly prospect Philippe Gilbert. Gilbert is among the very best of the hilly riders, and should provide this team with a lot of points. He is also, according to our knowledge, the most expensive rider in the entire Continental Tour,
In the cobbles the team has got a few riders who could do decent, but yet again these are sub-top cobblers like Sven Vanthourenhout, Marc Machado and Juan van Heerden. The last is also the teams absolutely best rider. Juan van Heerden is among the best sprinters of the CT and could provide this team with what it needs.
For the Timetrials Olivier Kaisen, among with young Wen Hao Li will be the best chances to get results. Kaisen should be able to do some fine results, while Li will probably become 10th at best.
Overall this team lacks the real quality to become really strong, and the talent for years to come is also a bit problematic to spot. Gilbert is really the only hope for this team to do great.
We quickly jump into this team looking very optimistic. They seem to have a little bit of everything and that is really what is needed to win the CT.
For the mountains the team have Peter Stetina and Sylvain Calzati. Both will have a hard time against the best climbers, but both should also be able to do a good effort ending up with quite some points for this team. And with the help from Thomas Peterson and Bernardo Colex they should be up there.
Looking at the hills this team have a true wonderman for a Continental team, Fabian Wegmann. Fabian is extremely powerfull, he can attack, and he can also cling onto the wheels of stronger riders, beating them in the final sprint. And with Sylvain Calzati also a very competent hilly rider this team should get many points on that account.
For the timetrials the team have a strong team lead by Jason Donald. He is backed up by Tom Zirbel, Ben Jacques-Maynes, Blake Caldwell and Timothy Duggan making up a strong team for the flat tours.
This american team is looking very strong, and stands a good shot at making it into the top teams.
Looking at this team, the first thing you say is "WOW!". But looking into the teams finances a bit and you get hurled away with a bit of disbelief. The team figures Denis Menchov, Stijn Devolder and Sylvain Chavanel!
Reliable sources tells us that Denis Menchov won't be in this team and we have to look beyond him.
This we do and start over. Stijn Devolder is by far the strongest climber we have seen so far! Last year he ruled the Pro Tour, and now he's here? It's a wonder, and you can't but believing that this guys will take the team to the promotion places?
For the hills Sylvain Chavanel and Jonathan Bellis will fight to get within top 5's, it should be possible from time an again, where Chavanel can also be very useful in smaller tours.
For the Timetrials this team has the british wonder David Millar. He is without doubt among the best timetrialists in the world, and he should bring the team very much!
For the cobbles, we again get a feeling of pleasure as both Geraint Thomas and Stijn Devolder can beat the very best cobblers!
In the sprints Ismaël Kip and Anuar Manan are the best cards. Not impressive, but they could do decent. And with help from Thomas, Tombak and Bellis they should be able to get some top 3's.
Overall this is without comparison the best team we have seen so far!
For the hills we have Angel Vicioso, who could become very important. Vicioso is a strong engine who can also climb, timetrial and sprint. A complete rider, whom, with the right planning could be one of the best of the league. Vicioso will be helped by old hilly star Igor Astarloa and young talented Branislav Samoilev.
In the cobbles the team don't have anyone, but there are a few decent sprinters aswell, Claudio Corioni could be among the strongest from time to another while riders like Biondo and Teruel could also be in top 5's.
A last rider who could do a little is Gustavo Veloso, who is fairly strong in the mountains, and also a decent timetriallist.
All in all this is a very competent squad, which, however seems to lack the top quality to be a promoting team.
Only one rider seems to be able to provide pointcollection in this team. Tadej Valjavec.
Tadej is the best option for the smaller tours. He is a very strong climber, but he really lacks the timetrial skills, which could be a huge loss for this team. The only other climber in the team is american Saul Raisin. He can climb for sure, but he can not fight the best climbers and there are quite a few of them this season.
In the cobbles old George Hincapie will try to find his second youth, but George is seemingly past his prime and will struggle to beat the upcomming youngsters. Hincapie can expect the support of Rast and Will Frischkorn.
There are no sprinters in the team, which gives the opportunity to jump for riders like Charles Dionne, Graham Briggs and Dominique Rollin.
The best timetriallist of the team, James Lewis Perry will have a hard time fighting riders like David Millar, thus giving the team a very little chance of scoring points.
Looking through this team we seem to lack just about everything... Valjavec is all by himself, and his helpers are not very strong.
This swedish furniture company has told the manager to get the best swedish riders within this team, and that is exactly what has been served.
The team has a few foreigners and amongst them are 2 very strong riders. Jose Alarcon and Rein Taaramäe are very strong already this year, and we believe they can become even better, so have an eye open, especially on the young estonian rider.
Another rider who can go up is the swedish Gustav Larsson. His strenght is his Timetrial skills, which could very likely be one of the best in the Continental Tour. The combination of skills make Gustav Larsson a big favorite for smaller tours with slight climbs and a long Timetrial. A very good asset for any Continental Tour team.
The team isn't really that strong in the hills, with Rein Taaramäe and swedish Jonas Ljungblad the best opportunities at the moment. The team, however has a young german rider in Aleksandr Flügel who could turn out great in a couple of seasons.
Looking at the cobbles, the team has secured a very talented rider in Pieter Vanspeybrouck, who is very very likely to produce points in the cobbles. He is yet to hit his peak, but he could become one of the very best.
Looking at the sprints Mattias Westling is the only quality. He could become rather important, but lacks the quality to beat the very best.
At the timetrials also Johan Lindgren, Petter Renäng, Fredrik Ericsson and Jussi Veikkanen needs to be mentioned as fairly strong riders.
A fairly strong team overall, not a team that is likely to promote, but they could be around the top 10.
This team is looking basically towards timetriallists, it could be an interesting move, but looking at the stars in the league they seem to lack the inch.
For the mountains Shaun Lewis should be the strongest on paper, but he is really not much at going on flats, so he could have lost important energy before the mountains even start, so Dmitri Grabovski could very likely become the best.
In the hills Dan Craven looks to become a decent rider. He isn't yet the best asset, but he could become very very strong.
There are no cobblers in the team but looking at the sprints Erik Mohs, Christopher Sutton, Simon Clarke and Miguel Chacon could all become valuable assets for the team. Especially Erik Mohs seems to have hit his form and could be very important.
The timetrials are, as mentioned, probably the strongest point and with riders like Dmitri Grabovski, Hayden Roulsten, Ben Day, Zakkari Dempster and Miles Olman could all win timetrials. It will be very important to find the suitable races for them, but it could their chance.
The team isn't the best in the Continental Tour, but there are a hint of talent, which keeps them safe of the bottom 5.
One of our personal favorites to take a promotion spot. A very interesting mixture of quality stars and helpers could, with the right management mean the difference.
For the mountains Alex Ardila Cano is a very good climber, but the overshading star must be Kim Kirchen. Kim is not only a very very good small tour racer, but he is also among the 15 best hilly riders in the world at the moment, which leaves us with the next option:
The hills. Kirchen will be helped by Pieter Weening, who could also do a decent result himself.
Looking at the cobbles Niels Albert and Roy Sentjens could do a good job, especially with the help from Bobbie Traksel, Marcel Sieberg, Koen de Kort and Bas Giling. Sentjens won't win anything at all, but him and his helpers could make a bald move and make an attack in order to get a good result, while Niels Albert should be a top 5 cobbled rider.
Matthew Goss is one of the fastest guys in the world, and with Michael van Stayen, Bobbie Traksel and Hans Dekkers aswell this team will have a guy infront of every single flat stage.
For the timetrials Dominique Cornu and Kai Reus are very strong riders for a Continental Tour. They are not the top crop, but just after them, and as both are strong climbers and hilly riders aswell, we can easily see them doing top 5s in small stageraces.
Overall a very very strong team, that we will have to keep an eye on.
When looking at this LEGO team the first rider you notice is the spanish topclimber Koldo Gil. Koldo Gil is among the best GC riders of the Continental Tour, thus should be able to get some very fine results. Also Wladimir Gustov should still be able to make a decent shot at some top 10's, eventhough the CT overall has become much stronger. For helpers the team has danish Jakob Fuglsang among with belgian Klaas Vantornout.
Looking at the hilly races Koldo Gil is yet again the man to watch. He is very much alone in these races, so we have to believe he will be used for stageraces basically.
The lineup for the cobbled races will be David Kopp, Markus Eichler, Martin Elmiger and Stuart O'Grady. A decent squad who could compete for some good results, although not nearly as good as the very top of the crop.
The team does, however have a very strong sprinters team with Gerald Ciolek as the main man. On paper Daniel Thorsen should be very fast aswell, but he's unlikely to see the finishline with the pack. For that matter is old topsprinter Alessandro Petacchi more reluctant as a stage winner. Among with already mentioned stars are riders like Robert Hunter, Jiri Hochmann, Eric Baumann and Stefan Radochla also very fast. We will definately see this team in the flats.
Chinese Haijun Ma is the only Timetriallist of the team, he will be interesting to follow.
We have a fairly strong team here, although they will not be able to beat the top teams.
At the chocolate team Robert Kiserlovski is the sole captain when the CT hits the mountains. The Croatian climber is fairly strong, but noway near good enough the beat the stars of the CT. Edwin Parra Bustamente and Marek Rutkiewicz will support him.
For the hills Andrei Kunitski could be able to beat some of the bigger names if he attacks from way out, but he should really not be all too dangerous.
Looking to the cobbles this team has a very interesting talent, who could be up there among the very best. Sam Bewley is his name. And with Pieter Mertens by his side this team should be one to watch.
For the sprints we have to mention this Bewley talent once more, among with a bunch of fast men like Mirko Lorenzetto, Tomas Vaitkus, Ahmad Haidar Anuawar, Daniele Di Nucci, Igor Abamoukov and team leader Jean-Patrick Nazon. A very very strong team.
There aren't any worth mentioning timetriallists, so we will go straight to the conclusion, which must be, that this team is a decent one. But there are a looong way to the top as Kiserlovski can't win races, and there isn't any hilly riders in this team.
A team with a lot of subtop climber will be interesting to follow. If they are able to counter eachother and find the form, they could be dangerous, although none of them are top names. Worth mentioning are: Benjamin Noval, Inigo Landaluze, Francis De Greef and Jurgen Vandenbroeck.
For the hills Vandenbroeck is the best card. He could dominate if the top guys aren't present, but lacks the quality to tease the likes of Valverde and Kirchen.
In the cobbles only Francis Mourey is a guy to look for. He can't follow the top guys, but is a decent rider who could also go for stagewins in tough enviroments.
Two very strong sprinters are in this team. Aitor Galdo and Ruben Bongiorno. They will be able to create a good aspect of sprint to the team, but it's unlikely that they will do much besides positioning themselves in top 5s.
Overall this is one of the teams that could struggle to get out of the relegation battle, although they could end up on the better.
A team of which we will have to be aware! Sergio Luis Henao Montoya is among the very best climbers of the Continental Tour, and he's not alone! Wilmer Vasquez could also provide this team with usefull positions in the mountainstages, but unlike Montoya, Vasquez will struggle to keep up in the overall due to his extremely poor Timetrial and hilly skills. For helps Marconi Durán, David Loosli and Vasili Kiryinka will be present. The latter should be able to get some high placing himself as the belarussian engine also is a fairly strong hilly rider among with his extreme timetrialeffort.
For the hills this team also have a star. German Mathias Kessler will undoubtly be among the strongest hilly riders in this years edition of the CT, and with french Fedrigo this team is one of our favorites for doing well in the hilly races.
Looking to the cobbles we find Geert Steurs. Not a rider we have heard much about previously, but according the experts he is one to watch, and with Nicolas Portal and Michel Sibilla in his back he is bound to do some magic.
Finally this team is boosted with decent sprinters: Luciano Pagliarini, Murilo Fischer, Nolan Hoffman, Mauro Richeze, Hector Fabian Aguilar and Sebastian Siedler are all very confident that they can provide enough speed to win stages.
At first glance this team looks to have a difficult season ahead of them, but lets look into the qualities. For the climbs the team have two riders capable of doing results. The first is Richard Ochoa Quintero, and the other is Olivier Zaugg. While they are decent climbers it is highly unlikely that they will be able to win races.
For the hills the team equipped the talented spaniard Riccardo Serrano. Whether he can win any races already this year is doubtful, but he could prove to become very useful later on. Also Bertogliati and Kolobnev could do well in smaller hills.
For the cobbles the team has unmounted all hopes with Amadou Bakari the best hope. Not exactly top material.
For the sprints, however this team is high on sky. Oscar Freire is still among the best sprinters of the peloton, and with his strong upgoing qualities he should be one to watch in all aspects. Same goes for less strong sprinter Heinrich Haussler. The same qualities, although not as spoken. Finally Jaime Alberto Castañeda is a decent sprinter also.
For the timetrials Shaun Higgerson could do a good result or 2 but he is not one of the strongest in the Continental, so he will have to select his races carefully.
Overall a good sprinters team, but the team will really lack qualities in other aspects of the game.
At one point we have to look towards teams that can promote, and that is exactly what we do here. Gianpaolo Caruso is among the very strongest climbers in the Continental Tour and combined with the fact that Mikel Astarloza, Christian Pfannberger and Alex Diniz aren't too shabby climbers either this could provide the team with a high potential points.
For the hilly races Bram Tankink, Florian Stalder and Gerhard Trampusch should be striking pure luck to find the finish line ahead of the stars.
In the sprints Rene Weissinger and Philipp Ludescher are the only half decent effort, and they willl strive to do top 10s, but unlikely win.
The cobbles, however is here a strong pack of riders. Leif Hoste and Enrico Franzoi are among the best cobblers in the CT, nor less the world, and this is really where this team needs to score big time. Both riders must finish at somewhat top 5 in all cobbled races in order to make this team go up a notch.
Hoste is also a very comfortable timetriallist, among with Rory Sutherland, Sascha Damrow and Mikel Astarloza.
Overall this team is a good combination of climbers and cobbled riders, but due to the nonexisting hilly aspect, and lack of sprinters would make it almost impossible to reach top 3.
This presidential team features some semigood climbers such as Jorge Ferrio, Damian Martinez and Ivailo Grabovski. But besides that the climbers selection is pretty weak.
The team does, however have one of the more talented riders in the stable, with Tejay van Garderen one of the best hilly riders in the Continental Tour. Tejay has the quality to become podium in most hilly classics already, and will become even stronger next season. He is a definate key to succes for this team. He will be supported by Yon Bru Pascal and Ruslan Sambris in his strive for immidiate succes.
Andy Flickinger is this teams best shot at a cobbled succes, thus no reason to speak any further about this.
For the sprints an interesting guy is, previously mentioned, Damian Martinez. He is extremely fast and a semi good climber, this could be a very good mixture. Others than that Tyler Farrar is a strong sprinter and with a hobe of subtop sprinters, he got every chance to be piloted for victory.
Cyril Lemoine and Mark Griffiths are decent timetriallists, but are unlikely to win anything.
This team is fairly strong, but lacks a little bit of everything to top, in a few years this team will be exciting to watch, however.
Our favorite for immidiate succes. With superstar Cadel Evans in the Continental Tour this team has just got to be a favorite on paper. And looking through the captaincy roles for small tours we also feature Matteo Carrara, who managed a shocking top 10 in last years edition of the Giro d'Italia. Manuel Lloret, Marco Osella and Mauricio Ortega are also very capable of doing good results in the mountanous races.
Luis Pasamontes is a good hilly rider, but whether or not he will be able to finish with the best is uncertain. He will be helped by riders such as Ruslan Podgorny, Jaume Rovira and Grega Bole.
In the cobbles we tend to think that they are not even interesting in participating. Matteo Carrara can do a cobbled race if needed, but it's highly unlikely that the manager will even consider this option.
For the sprints the italian Enrico Gasparotto is a good bid for hard stages, but besides him only Takashi Miyazawa has got a shot at getting top 10s.
Besides the top riders the team doesn't have any real timetriallists.
Overall a very very strong team, with Evans, Carrara and Lloret as main men.
If one man could describe a team then we could say following: Alejandro Valverde...
... But this team is actually more than the Continental Tours best rider. Also former spanish champ Juan Manuel Garate is to be found in this team. And with the huge talents Angel Madrazo and Justo Tenorio this team is decently featured in the mountains. Also for years to come!
For the hilly races Alejandro Valverde should be top 3 in every single possible race, winning most of them, and with help from extreme engine Jesus Del Nero he has no excuse not to.
Del Nero will also be captain in the cobbled sections, among with Francisco Ventoso, but they will have to keep it to the very end for Ventoso to have a chance.
Ventoso is also the best sprinter of this team, with Aitor Perez Arrieta also worth mentioning.
If Valverde can really put the pressure on the other teams, then this team could go all the way, but if he just breaks off one time, then there is a long way to go.
Team effort you say? Right! Eventhough this team has a lot of individuals able to win small races it is the combination of these exacts, that makes this team a wonderful aspect to cycling.
Walter Pedraza and Dmitri Medvevev are both quality climbers, but it will probably be Yuri Trofimov and Sergio Ghisalberti whom will dominate.
In the hills its exactly the same two guys we have to look to. Trofimov and Ghisalberti are among the best hilly riders, and with help from riders such as Santo Anza, Manuele Mori and Staf Scheirlinckx they have every reason to finish high.
The team has got some talented cobbled riders like Rojas Gil, Muravjev, Mortensen and Staf Scheirlinckx, but none of them are likely to win races for the team.
In the sprints, however riders like Raul Granjel Cabrera could become very potent for this team. Also Assan Bazayev is a lethal finisher and also good at going uphill. Finally we have to mention Paride Grillo, Cresenzo D'Amore, Cameron Meyer and Claudio Cucinotta. A very strong flat team!
Finally, riders like Sebastien Lang, Viktor Renäng and Freddy Johansson could be able to take timetrial wins.
This portuguise team is the classic national team of climbers, with regeon in Portugal and Spain. There are a few very interesting names, that will have to be considered among the best of what they do in the Continental Tour.
Florentino Marquez and Magno Nazaret are both amazing climbers. But they lack the real stamina to make it to the Pro Tour. Therefore the have taken the act of this and stepped down to the smaller tours of the CT, and here they could become very valuable! In mixture with riders like Nuno Ribeiro, Francisco Colorado, Daniel Moreno and Francisco Jose Terciado this team will be all over the place once we hit the steepest of the steep.
But the team meets its limitations here. The best hilly rider of the team is talented Rui Costa. And he simply doesn't have what it takes to beat the top guns.
There aren't any cobblers at all in this team, but a few fast men like Bruno Neves, Victor Gomes Colinas and Javier Benitez could, if launched correctly, jump to a few podium places, thus creating well needed points.
Overall this is the classic portuguise team with 9/10 climbers. It's a very nice mixture of young and elderly riders with different assets, and it wouldn't surprise us to see them in top 10, if the season planning are well addressed.
The team leader of Team NOS must be former Vuelta a España revelation Izidro Nozal. Combine his ability to climb with his ability to timetrial and you got one dangerous tour rider. Manuel Medina and Ricardo Vande Velde will also be up there in the smaller tours, as they are both strong climbers.
The team also has some strong mountain talents such as Rob Ruijgh, Yasmani Martinez and Kevin Seeldrayers.
For the hills Frantisek Rabon, Johan Vansummeren and Stef Clement are good bids for top 10s. Especially Vansummeren will be able to cling onto the stars for quite some time.
In the cobbles Bart Wellens, Vansummeren and Greg van Avermaet will be able to get decent results, eventhough none of them are likely to win.
For the sprints talented Mitch Docker has shown himself as a reliable candidate for podiums. Also riders like Aleksei Markov, Ashley Hutchinson and mentioned Greg van Avermaet should do well.
Stef Clement has a good ability to stay tuned, and combined with his Timetrial skills he could be a good asset for smaller flatter tours. Also Javier Aramendia can power away a good timetrial.
Troughout this team we get a good assumption, that this could become quality. But theres still something lacking for a real top position.
The coffee shop has wanted to sponsor a team of their own for years, and now it's a reality. And what a start. Firstly the team managed to sign team captain Tom Danielson, and if that wasn't enough Vladimir Efimkin decided to join aswell...
Having mentioned the 2 obvious keys to succes we have to mention australian Trent Lowe aswell. And with help from riders such as Remberto Jaramillo, Johann Tschopp and Pedro Sibilla the team should be potent in the mountains.
In the hills the team will have Slovenian Kristjan Koren as main man. No matter how much talent Koren has, it is highly doubtful that he will thunder already from this season. He will therefore probably share leadership with Giovanni Visconti.
Visconti is also the leader in the cobbles, with help from Simunek and Kavsek. Not the best possible solution.
Sebastien Minard and Mark Renshaw are both decent sprinters, but like so many others they are not very likely to win races.
Overall, this team lacks a lot, but the two main stars will make up for a lot.
The return of Ivan Basso... How strong is he? No one really knows, but he is undoubtly the star of the team. With help from Bosisio we are bound to see Ivan Basso making some shots at the big guns in smaller tours.
In the hills the team have a very large talent in Francesco Ginanni. He is among the best hilly riders in the continental tour, so we expect nothing les that being spectacular this season. Again we can mention Bosisio as a key helper. But also old garde, Paolo Bettini, who will teach Ginanni just when to jump will be key. Finally the team has riders like Lorenzo Bernucci, Alessandro Proni and Manuel Quinziato for the hills. This will be where this team is found!
Quinziato is also the best hope for cobbled succes. He is a very strong allrounder, and with help from Andy Cappelle he could do good results.
Daniele Napolitano is one of the best sprinters in the world, and in his real flat enviroment he will be his weight worth in gold for this team. Also Oscar Gatto and Mattia Gavazzi are decent sprinters for the matter.
Overall a very exciting team, with a slightly different approach on how to promote. Whether or not this is the way will be fun to watch.
This team is a very talented one. The riders are young and that might be a problem this season.
One rider that will not be causing problems, however is Rinaldo Nocentini is among the best climbers and hilly riders in the CT, and with the right planning he could be among the top 10 individuals of the CT.
Also Leonardo Bertagnolli, Ivan Rovny and Ben Hermans can do a good hilly race, and combined with strong talents like Teodoro Costagli, Simoni Ponzi, Paolo Scarponi and Damiano Caruso this team is looking towards brighter times.
Luke Rowe and Kevin Ista has been given leech to go for the cobbles, but they are both a long long way from being good enough to win these races.
In the sprints, strong uphiller Nikolai Trusov will be important, while Joseph Cooper also could do decently.
A very talented team a lá Team B&O the past years, but still not as strong.
Another of the big stars has decided to go to the CT. Janez Brajkovic is this teams absolute leader, but what else do we have?
Christophe Riblon could be a good climber, while Julian Becerra and Juan Mora can be important helpers.
Looking to the hills this team is among the superteam! Stefan Schumacher is probably the 2nd best hilly rider of the CT, and with riders like Michael Albasini, Christophe Brandt and Anthony Roux by his side he can do nothing but win races! A lot of points have already been scored on the accounts of Schumacher and Brajkovic!
For the classical cobbles Wim de Vocht is a decent rider, with a good shot at top 5s.
Only one cobbled rider, but a strong sprinting squad with Leonardo Duque, Maximiliano Richeze and Robert Förster will make up for it by taking stages.
A very strong team, that will most likely be up in the region of top 5
1 Wii Racing 2 Sony Ericsson
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4 Olympus AirAsia
5 Vespa - Caffreys
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6 Jack Wolfskin
7 IKEA - Bianchi
8 100% Me
9 Nespresso - Sportzone
10 Santander
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11 Energie - Diesel
12 NVidia Intel
13 Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
14 Team Starbucks
15 LEGO - Capri-Sonne
16 Team NOS
17 Nokia Nike
18 AON Global
19 BMC Racing Team
20 Wiggle
---------------------------------- 21 Obama & Biden
22 Ernst and Young
23 Molteni
24 Alpro - Cord Blood America
25 M&M Cycling
26 IrnBru-RBS
* WalMart has been deducted from this due to disrespect towards the danish press.
Edited by SotD on 29-04-2009 20:45
My sprinting side isnt decent, im afraid its crap. History have shown us that Manan is too tired to compete in the sprints. SN insists that Kip will get dropped before we even reach the sprinting area and Tombak have only won one stage in the two seasons and that was after he got a fantastic leadout. And Thomas and Bellis simply wont be used for the sprinter races.
That said, i think Manan will take the sprinters jersey in Langkawi and Jelalah Malaysia and the disappear into obscurity. And i dont expect Kip to do anything as he need that last level to compete.
That said, you appear to have hit everything spot on.
alexkr00 wrote:
I think that BMC and Sony Ericsson will promote this year.
Sony Ericsson is a secure bet and BMC will surely do well but there are other teams who could well. I am particulary impressed with Wii Racing who has three or four good riders and Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin will dominate in the mountains.
alexkr00 wrote:
I think that BMC and Sony Ericsson will promote this year.
Sony Ericsson is a secure bet and BMC will surely do well but there are other teams who could well. I am particulary impressed with Wii Racing who has three or four good riders and Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin will dominate in the mountains.
I don't know know anything about Benfica but Wii Racing won't do so well they have Brajkovic but there are not a lot of stage races for his profile. Only Schumacher is a real rival for the top teams
Waghlon wrote:
My sprinting side isnt decent, im afraid its crap. History have shown us that Manan is too tired to compete in the sprints. SN insists that Kip will get dropped before we even reach the sprinting area and Tombak have only won one stage in the two seasons and that was after he got a fantastic leadout. And Thomas and Bellis simply wont be used for the sprinter races.
That said, i think Manan will take the sprinters jersey in Langkawi and Jelalah Malaysia and the disappear into obscurity. And i dont expect Kip to do anything as he need that last level to compete.
That said, you appear to have hit everything spot on.
Thanks...
Yeah, well I don't really know if they are as shit as 06, but they aren't the best that's for sure :-)
We tried that in the first season, that went over really well with the sponsors. Then we tried a mix. That left me broke. Now we're trying a team built on lone stars, kinda like those teams that have promoted in the last two seasons.
Oh dear oh dear oh dear. British is the word you are looking for there.
right... I didn't know their nationalities, so looked at the db where it all said ENG :-)
Not sure what database you looked at, because in the one I posted it all said GBR. And theres a reason for that, they are not all English. Aswell as the fact that the British flag is used.
