Cycling’s Tour of California begins Sunday, May 14, the 12th edition of the United States’s biggest professional bike race, now blossomed into a global event featuring many of the world’s greatest teams and riders. As always, a team to watch is Cannondale-Drapac, an American squad known for its U.S.-born talent, eccentric attitude, and its bright, lizard-green outfits, detailed with preppy hints of argyle.

Cannondale-Drapac figures to be highly competitive in the weeklong U.S. stage race. But this isn’t the case at every...