2012 UCI Pro Teams

Professional cycling teams are ranked into three tiers. The top level is UCI Pro Team and the 18 teams here have automatic and obligatory access to the big races on the UCI’s World Tour calendar. In addition, there is a range of rules governing these teams that aim to ensure sporting and financial stability.

You’ll find the top-18 teams below, their sponsors explained plus riders and staff listed.

Click on the links to jump to the team.



Ag2r La Mondiale

Country France Sponsor Mutual healthcare plans and savings Bikes Kuota, SRAM, Reynolds Manager Vincent Lavenu Sports Directors Laurent Biondi, Julien Jurdie, Arturas Kasputis, Gilles Mas, Didier Jannel

Manuel Belletti ITA 26 Julien Berard FRA 24 Guillaume Bonnafond FRA 24 Maxime Bouet FRA 25 Jimmy Casper FRA 33 Mikael Cherel FRA 25 Hubert Dupont FRA 31 Martin Elmiger SUI 33 John Gadret FRA 32 Ben Gastauer LUX 24 Gregor Gazvoda SLO 30 Sylvain Georges FRA 27 Kristof Goddaert BEL 25 Sébastien Hinault FRA 37 Steve Houanard FRA 25 Blel Kadri FRA 25 Romain Lemarchand FRA 24 Sébastien Minard FRA 29 Lloyd Mondory FRA 29 Matteo Montaguti ITA 28 Rinaldo Nocentini ITA 34 Jean-Christophe Peraud FRA 34 Mathieu Perget FRA 27 Anthony Ravard FRA 28 Christophe Riblon FRA 30 Nicolas Roche IRL 27 Boris Shpilevsky RUS 29 Amir Zargari IRI 31 Romain Bardet FRA 21

Comment: first in the alphabet but last in terms of wins for 2011. The French squad searched far and wide to get riders with enough points to stay in the top flight for 2012. Nevertheless the team is capable of winning more but often needs to do this via breakaways. But it has some sprinters who should win a stack of smaller races. Watch out for Manuel Belleti, the new Italian signing is fast. Team leaders Peraud and Roche will aim to be visible in the big races and crack the top-10 in the big stage races but if they were part of a squad like Sky or Radioshack-Nissan they’d probably be lieutenants not leaders.



Astana

Country Kazakhstan Sponsor Kazakhstan national government Bikes Specialized, SRAM Manager Giuseppe Martinelli Sports Directors Guido Bontempi, Dmitri Sedoun, Alexander Shefer

Assan Bazayev KAZ 30 Borut Bozic SLO 31 Janez Brajkovič SLO 28 Alexsandr Dyachenko KAZ 28 Dmitriy Fofonov KAZ 35 Enrico Gasparotto ITA 29 Francesco Gavazzi ITA 27 Andriy Grivko UKR 28 Dimitriy Gruzdev KAZ 29 Jacopo Guarnieri ITA 24 Maxim Iglinskiy KAZ 30 Valentin Iglinskiy KAZ 27 Tanel Kangert EST 24 Andrey Kashechkin KAZ 31 Fredrik Kessiakoff SWE 31 Robert Kiserlovski CRO 25 Roman Kreuziger CZE 25 Francesco Masciarelli ITA 25 Dmitriy Muravyev KAZ 32 Yevgeny Nepomnyachsniy KAZ 24 Evgeny Petrov RUS 33 Simone Ponzi ITA 24 Sergey Renev KAZ 27 Kevin Seeldraeyers BEL 25 Egor Silin RUS 23 Paolo Tiralongo ITA 34 Alexandr Vinokourov KAZ 38 Andrey Zeits KAZ 25

Comment: the team exists to provide glory to the oil-rich totalitarian dictatorship of Kazakhstan and the vehicle for Vinokourov. He also retired last year but Vino has continued, largely to lend his haul of points to the team in order to keep them in the top flight. But the team has been busy hiring new riders. Look no further than Janez Brajkovič but watch Jacopo Guarnieri too, he is a fast-finisher. 2012 should be a big year for Roman Kreuziger, the Czech has been a force since his days in junior ranks but has yet to land the big result to go from talented prospect to champion. There are other strong individuals, the team can win on almost any terrain.



BMC Racing

Country USA Sponsor BMC bicycles Bikes BMC, Shimano Managers Gavin Chilcott and Jim Ochowicz Sports Directors John Lelangue, Rik Verbrugghe, Fabio Baldato, Mike Sayers, Maximilian Sciandri, Noel Dejonckheere

Alessandro Ballan ITA 32 Adam Blythe GBR 22 Brent Bookwalter USA 27 Marcus Burghardt GER 28 Stephen Cummings GBR 30 Cadel Evans AUS 34 Mathias Frank SUI 25 Philippe Gilbert BEL 29 George Hincapie USA 38 Thor Hushovd NOR 33 Martin Kohler SUI 26 Klaas Lodewyck BEL 23 Amaël Moinard FRA 29 Steve Morabito SUI 28 Marco Pinotti ITA 35 Manuel Quinziato ITA 32 Mauro Santambrogio ITA 27 Ivan Santaromita ITA 27 Michael Schär SUI 25 Johann Tschopp SUI 29 Greg Van Avermaet BEL 26 Tejay Van Garderen USA 23 Danilo Wyss SUI 26 Yannick Eijssen BEL 22 Taylor Phinney USA 21 Thimothy Roe AUS 22

Comment: A very different team to last year with the arrival of Philippe Gilbert and Thor Hushovd for the classics thanks to the big spending of team owner Andy Rihs. Greg Van Avermaet was proving an able winner last year, we’ll see how he is deployed alongside the big signings. Cadel Evans now has more help for the Tour de France thanks to the arrival of Tejay Van Garderen and Marco Pinotti, indeed the squad is much stronger compared to 2011.



Euskaltel – Euskadi

Country Spain Sponsor Basque regional government, local telecoms provider Bikes Orbea, Shimano Manager Miguel Madariaga Barinaga Sports Directors Gorka Gerrikagoitia Arrien, Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano, Inaki Isasi Flores

Igor Anton Hernandez ESP 28 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau ESP 32 Jorge Azanza Soto ESP 29 Victor Cabedo ESP 22 Pierre Cazaux FRA 27 Ricardo Garcia Ambroa ESP 23 Gorka Izagirre Insausti ESP 24 Egoi Martinez De Esteban ESP 33 Miguel Minguez Ayala ESP 23 Mikel Nieve Ituralde ESP 27 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde ESP 31 Alan Perez Lezaun ESP 29 Ruben Perez Moreno ESP 30 Adrian Saez ESP 25 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez ESP 33 Romain Sicard FRA 24 Amets Txurruka ESP 29 Pablo Urtasun Perez ESP 31 Ivan Velasco Murillo ESP 31 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui ESP 33 Peio Bilbao ESP 21 Jon Izaguirre Insausti ESP 22 Mikel Landa Meana ESP 22

Comment: This could be the team’s last year in the top flight as budget troubles appear. It has the minimum roster allowed under the rules and its best riders are being poached by rival Spanish squad Movistar. The proud regional identity of the team shines through but their best rider, Samuel Sanchez isn’t fully from the Basque region. Expect to see them active in early breakaways, livening up the race.



FDJ – BigMat

Country France Sponsor French state lottery, building materials retailer Bikes Lapierre, Shimano Manager Marc Madiot Sports Directors Thierry Bricaud, Martial Gayant, Yvon Madiot, Frank Pineau

William Bonnet FRA 29 David Boucher FRA 31 Sandy Casar FRA 32 Steve Chainel FRA 28 Mickael Delage FRA 26 Pierrick Fedrigo FRA 33 Arnaud Gerard FRA 27 Anthony Geslin FRA 31 Frédéric Guesdon FRA 40 Yauheni Hutarovich BLR 28 Arnold Jeannesson FRA 25 Matthieu Ladagnous FRA 27 Francis Mourey FRA 31 Yoann Offredo FRA 25 Rémi Pauriol FRA 29 Cédric Pineau FRA 26 Thibaut Pinot FRA 21 Gabriel Rasch NOR 35 Dominique Rollin CAN 29 Anthony Roux FRA 24 Jérémy Roy FRA 28 Geoffrey Soupe FRA 23 Benoît Vaugrenard FRA 30 Jussi Veikkanen FIN 30 Arthur Vichot FRA 23 Nacer Bouhanni FRA 21 Arnaud Courteille FRA 22 Arnaud Demare FRA 20 Kenny Elissonde FRA 20

Comment: a return to the Pro Team for 2012, the squad has recruited some more riders. Fedrigo has a world-class engine but misfired last year after a parasite infection bugged him. There’s a lot of promise on the squad but going from contenders to actual race-winners is the team’s biggest challenge. Jérémy Roy is an interesting rider with an engineering degree, a column in L’Equipe and social-media mastery on top of his breakaway speciality. Watch Thibaut Pinot, a talented climber with some impressive wins to his name already and don’t forget Arnold Jeannesson, white jersey in the Tour de France for a while last year.



Garmin – Barracuda

Country USA Sponsor Satellite navigation and cycle computers; IT security, networking and storage Bikes Cervélo, Shimano, Rotor, Mavic Manager Jonathan Vaughters Sports Directors Alan Peiper, Eric Van Lancker, Chann McRae, Bingen Fernandez, Geert Van Bondt, Charles Wegelius

Jack Bauer NZL 26 Tom Danielson USA 33 Thomas Dekker NED 27 Tyler Farrar USA 27 Koldo Fernandez ESP 30 Murilo Fischer BRA 32 Nathan Haas AUS 22 Heinrich Haussler AUS 27 Ryder Hesjedal CAN 31 Alex Howes USA 24 Robbie Hunter RSA 34 Andreas Klier GER 35 Michel Kreder NED 24 Raymond Kreder NED 22 Christophe Le Mevel FRA 31 Martijn Maaskant NED 28 Dan Martin IRL 25 David Millar GBR 35 Ramunas Navardauskas LTU 23 Tom Peterson USA 25 Jacob Rathe USA 20 Alex Rasmussen DEN 27 Sebastien Rosseler BEL 30 Peter Stetina USA 24 Andrew Talansky USA 23 Christian Vande Velde USA 35 Johan Vansummeren BEL 30 Fabian Wegmann GER 31 David Zabriskie USA 32 Sep Vanmarcke BEL 23

Comment: a team but a collection of individuals too, the squad had a great time last year with wins in the classics and Tour de France although a lot of this was connected to Thor Hushovd who’s gone to BMC. But there are plenty of others, Farrar remains one of the biggest rivals to Mark Cavendish in the sprint and Dan Martin sits in the top-10 of the UCI rankings. Watch Navardauskas for his hard work, a neo-pro who can pull the peloton along. A key signing isn’t a rider but a manager in Allan Peiper, the DS brings a lot of experience.



Greenedge

Country Australia Sponsor None for now, funded by Ryan family Bikes Scott, Shimano Manager Shayne Bannan Sports Directors Matthew White, Laurenzo Lapage, Lionel Marie, Neil Stephens, Daniele Nardello, Vittorio Algeri

Michael Albasini SUI 31 Fumiyuki Beppu JPN 28 Jack Bobridge AUS 22 Simon Clarke AUS 25 Baden Cooke AUS 33 Allan Davis AUS 31 Julian Dean NZL 36 Mitchell Docker AUS 25 Simon Gerrans AUS 31 Matthew Goss AUS 25 Leigh Howard AUS 22 Daryl Impey RSA 27 Jens Keukeleire BEL 23 Aidis Kruopis LTU 25 Brett Lancaster AUS 32 Sebastian Langeveld NED 26 Robbie Mcewen AUS 39 Christian Meier CAN 26 Cameron Meyer AUS 24 Travis Meyer AUS 22 Jens Mouris NED 31 Stuart O’Grady AUS 38 Wesley Sulzberger AUS 25 Daniel Teklehaymanot ERI 23 Svein Tuft CAN 34 Tomas Vaitkus LTU 29 Pieter Weening NED 30 Matthew Wilson AUS 34 Luke Durbridge AUS 20 Michael Hepburn AUS 20

Comment: the new kid in town, Greenedge is the Australian team. Arguably Britain copied the Australian model of lavish funding and talent-spotting for the track to bring Olympic medals, this programme has spin-offs with the endurance events (pursuit, points etc) providing enough riders to fill a team. Now the Australians have mimicked the British and Team Sky with this squad. We’ll see how they gel for 2012, the team is packed with sprinters and those of a track pedigree so expect some wins in the sprints. As well as hunting for wins they’re looking for a sponsor and there could be good news here soon.



Katusha

Country Russia Sponsor Various Russian companies linked to the Kremlin Bikes Canyon, Shimano, Mavic Managers Hans-Michael Holzer, Theo Maucher Sports Directors Christian Henn, Valerio Piva, Mario Chiesa, Claudio Cozzi, Dmitri Konychev

Maxim Belkov RUS 27 Pavel Brutt RUS 29 Giampaolo Caruso ITA 31 Xavier Florencio ESP 32 Oscar Freire ESP 35 Denis Galimzyanov RUS 24 Vladimir Gusev RUS 29 Juan Horrach ESP 37 Petr Ignatenko RUS 24 Mikhail Ignatiev RUS 26 Vladimir Isaichev RUS 25 Alexander Kristoff NOR 24 Timofey Kritskiy RUS 24 Aliaksandr Kuschynski BLR 32 Alberto Losada ESP 29 Denis Menchov RUS 33 Daniel Moreno ESP 30 Luca Paolini ITA 34 Alexander Porsev RUS 25 Joaquin Rodriguez ESP 32 Rudiger Selig GER 22 Gatis Smukulis LAT 24 Simon Spilak SLO 25 Yury Trofimov RUS 27 Alexey Tsatevitch RUS 22 Maxime Vantomme BEL 25 Angel Vicioso ESP 34 Eduard Vorganov RUS 29 Marco Haller AUT 20

Comment: Team Kremlin had a reorganisation over the winter with, out went some Italian and Russian managers, in came the Germans Hans-Michael Holzcer and Theo Maucher. Menchov arrives after the Geox team, we will see if he can regain his ability to be a contender for the grand tours. Rodriguez is a versatile rider and the battle with Alejandro Valverde for uphill finishes could be a duel worth watching in 2012. Galimzyanov is the sprinter, a powerful rider who is expected to improve and Freire lurks as usual. I’m more interested in the sponsors and management but make no mistake this is one of the biggest-budget teams in the sport and they’ve got ambitions to match.



Lampre – ISD

Country Italy Sponsor Italian pre-coated steel, Ukrainian steel mills Bikes Willier Triestina, Campagnolo Manager Antonio Sarroni Sports Directors Roberto Damiani, Bruno Vicino

Winner Anacona COL 23 Leonardo Bertagnolli ITA 34 Grega Bole SLO 26 Matteo Bono ITA 28 Vitaliy Buts UKR 25 Davide Cimolai ITA 22 Damiano Cunego ITA 30 Massimo Graziato ITA 23 Danilo Hondo GER 38 Matthew Lloyd AUS 28 Adriano Malori ITA 23 Marco Marzano ITA 31 Manuele Mori ITA 31 Przemyslaw Niemiec POL 31 Oleksandr Kvachuk UKR 28 Alessandro Petacchi ITA 38 Daniele Pietropolli ITA 31 Morris Possoni ITA 27 Daniele Righi ITA 35 Michele Scarponi ITA 32 Alessandro Spezialetti ITA 36 Simone Stortoni ITA 26 Diego Ulissi ITA 22 Davide Vigano ITA 27

Comment: the Italian team with a Ukrainian flavour, the pink and blue jersey has been a fixture in the sport since 1993, indeed some riders on the team are old enough, just, to have been able to sign for the team back then and the team has the oldest average age. Cunego, Scarponi and Petacchi remain the leaders but watch the progress of Ulissi; Polish rider Niemiec is a strong finisher uphill and could get a chance. And Winner Anacona has to be the best name in the peloton.



Liquigas – Cannondale

Country Italy Sponsor Dutch-owned domestic bottled gas distributor, Canadian-owned bicycle brand Bikes Cannondale, SRAM Manager Roberto Amadio Sports Directors Dario Mariuzzo, Mario Scirea, Alberto Volpi, Stefano Zanatta, Paolo Slongo, Biagio Conte

Valerio Agnoli ITA 27 Ivan Basso ITA 34 Maciej Bodnar POL 26 Federico Canuti ITA 26 Eros Capecchi ITA 25 Damiano Caruso ITA 24 Tiziano Dalto Da ITA 30 Mauro Dall’antonia ITA 28 Timothy Duggan USA 29 Edward King USA 28 Kristijan Koren SLO 25 Paolo Longo Borghini ITA 31 Alan Marangoni ITA 27 Dominik Nerz GER 22 Vincenzo Nibali ITA 27 Daniel Oss ITA 24 Maciej Paterski POL 25 Daniele Ratto ITA 22 Fabio Sabatini ITA 26 Peter Sagan SVK 21 Juraj Sagan SVK 23 Cristiano Salerno ITA 26 José Sarmiento COL 24 Sylvester Szmyd POL 33 Alessandro Vanotti ITA 31 Elia Viviani ITA 22 Stefano Agostini ITA 23 Moreno Moser ITA 21

Comment: the youngest team, the squad is about three riders: Basso, Nibali and Sagan and many others in the team are there solely to support their leaders. But Capecchi is a prospect and Elia Viviani is a very fast sprinter who is aiming for a gold in the omnium competition on the track in the Olympics. And we’ll see if Daniel Oss can win for himself or becomes a deluxe bodyguard for Sagan. Note Moreno Moser has joined the squad, he is the nephew of Franceso Moser, one of the sport’s all time great riders.



Lotto – Belisol

Country Belgium Sponsor Belgian state lottery, Aluminium windows and doors Bikes Ridley, Campagnolo Manager Bill Olivier Sports Directors Marc Sergeant, Herman Frison, Jean Pierre Heynderickx, Marc Wauters, Bart Leysen, Michiel Elijzen, Mario Aerts

Lars Ytting Bak DEN 31 Gaetan Bille BEL 23 Brian Bulgac NED 23 Sander Cordeel BEL 24 Bart Clercq BEL 25 Francis De Greef BEL 26 Kenny De Haes BEL 27 Gert Dockx BEL 23 André Greipel GER 29 Adam Hansen AUS 30 Greg Henderson NZL 35 Olivier Kaisen BEL 28 Maarten Neyens BEL 26 Gianni Meersman BEL 26 Vicente Mimo Reynes ESP 30 Jurgen Roelandts BEL 26 Fréderique Robert BEL 22 Marcel Sieberg GER 29 Mehdi Sohrabi IRI 30 Jurgen Van De Walle BEL 34 Jurgen Van Den Broeck BEL 28 Joost Van Leijen NED 27 Jelle Vanendert BEL 26 Dennis Vanendert BEL 23 Jonas Vangenechten BEL 25 Frederik Willems BEL 32 Jens Debusschere BEL 22 Tosh Van Der Sande BEL 21

Comment: over the winter the Omega Pharma-Lotto squad has split with the Lotto rump remaining here. André Greipel gets more help for the sprints with Henderson. Vandendert is becoming a strong climber. It’s a big year for Van Den Broeck, the Belgian crashed out of the Tour de France and needs a good result to justify his status as team leader.



Movistar

Country Spain Sponsor Spanish mobile telecoms provider Bikes Pinarello, Campagnolo Manager Eusebio Unzue Sports Directors José Luis Jaimerena, Yvon Ledanois, José Luis Arrieta, Alfonso Galilea

Andrey Amador Bakkazakova CRC 25 David Arroyo Duran ESP 32 Marzio Bruseghin ITA 37 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas ESP 24 Juan José Cobo ESP 30 Imanol Erviti Ollo ESP 28 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa POR 25 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios ESP 33 José Herrada Lopez ESP 26 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga ESP 25 Javier Iriarte ESP 25 Vladimir Karpets RUS 31 Vasili Kiryienka BLR 30 Ignatas Konovalovas LTU 26 Pablo Lastras Garcia ESP 35 David Lopez Garcia ESP 30 Angel Madrazo Ruiz ESP 23 Javier Moreno Bazan ESP 27 Sergio Pardilla Bellon ESP 27 Ruben Plaza Molina ESP 31 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil ESP 26 Branislau Samoilau BLR 26 Alejandro Valverde ESP 31 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi ESP 29 Giovanni Visconti ITA 28 Jesus Herrada Lopez ESP 21 Nairo Quintana Rojas COL 21 Enrique Sanz ESP 22

Comment: one of the strongest squads going. If some teams have sprint trains, Movistar can deploy the same method in the mountains with a range of riders to excel uphill, whether in shorter climbs with new recruit Visconti or with the likes of Valverde or Cobo. Castroviejo is a prologue specialist, Madrazo is a puncheur and others like Samoilau, Rui Costa, Intxausti and Kiriyenka are capable of winning week-long stage races, the staple of Spanish racing.



Omega Pharma – Quickstep

Country Belgium Sponsor Consumer healthcare products, US-owned flooring materials company Bikes Specialized, SRAM Managers Marc Coucke, Patrick Lefevere Sports Directors Davide Bramati, Brian Holm, Wilfried Peeters, Jan Schaffrath, Tom Steels, Rik Van Slycke

Marco Bandiera ITA 27 Tom Boonen BEL 31 Matt Brammeier IRL 26 Dario Cataldo ITA 26 Sylvain Chavanel FRA 32 Francesco Chicchi ITA 31 Gerald Ciolek GER 25 Kevin De Weert BEL 29 Dries Devenyns BEL 28 Michał Gołaś POL 27 Bert Grabsch GER 36 Michał Kwiatkowski POL 21 Levi Leipheimer USA 38 Nikolas Maes BEL 25 Tony Martin GER 26 Serge Pauwels BEL 28 Jérôme Pineau FRA 32 František Raboň CZE 28 Gert Steegmans BEL 31 Zdenek Stybar CZE 26 Niki Terpstra NED 27 Stijn Vandenbergh BEL 27 Kristof Vandewalle BEL 26 Martin Velits SVK 26 Peter Velits SVK 26 Andrew Fenn GBR 21 Michal Kwiatkowski POL 21 Matteo Trentin ITA 22 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck BEL 20 Julien Vermote BEL 22

Comment: once Team Boonen, the squad has branched out to ensure it doesn’t rely on the man from Balen. Boonen himself remains a contender for the classics, who knows what would have happened if his chain didn’t jam in the Arenberg forest during Paris-Roubaix? But that’s the point, the team is planning for these things now. Martin is the big signing, the time trial champion is strong on all but the most mountainous of roads. Chavanel is capable of winning the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. Note the East European flavour with the Velits twins, Stybar and the Poles. All good riders but means to sell Quickstep flooring into growing economies too. Van Keirsbulck looked very useful in his first year as a pro, watch him.



Rabobank

Country Netherlands Sponsor Retail banking Bikes Giant, Shimano Manager Harold Knebel Sports Directors Frans Maassen, Nico Verhoeven, Erik Dekker, Jan Boven, Adri Van Houwelingen

Carlos Barredo ESP 30 Jetse Bol NED 22 Lars Boom NED 26 Theo Bos NED 28 Matti Breschel DEN 27 Graeme Brown AUS 32 Stef Clement NED 29 Rick Flens NED 28 Juan Manuel Garate ESP 35 Robert Gesink NED 25 Steven Kruijswijk NED 24 Thomas Leezer NED 26 Paul Martens GER 28 Bauke Mollema NED 25 Grischa Niermann GER 36 Mark Renshaw AUS 29 Luis Leon Sanchez ESP 28 Bram Tankink NED 33 Laurens Ten Dam NED 31 Maarten Tjallingii NED 34 Jos Vam Emden NED 26 Dennis Van Winden NED 24 Coen Vermeltfoort NED 23 Maarten Wynants BEL 29 Wilco Kelderman NED 20 Michael Matthews AUS 21 Tom Jelte Slagter NED 22

Comment: any bank wanting to project an image of security and dependability doesn’t have to look further than Rabobank. The pro team is the top tier of the company’s investment in Dutch cycling and the squad is a fixture of pro cycling. An all round team they can count of Gesink and Mollema for stage races, Breschel and Boom for the classics and there’s several contenders for the sprints, with Renshaw joining. Watch Kelderman and Matthews too. Sanchez was invisible for much of last year but came good for the Tour de France.



Radioshack – Nissan

Country Luxembourg Sponsor US consumer electronics retail / Japanese auto manufacturer Bikes Trek, Shimano Managers Ricardo Scheidecker, Johan Bruyneel Sports Directors Luca Guercilena, Kim Andersen, Lars Michaelsen, José Azevedo, Dirk Demol

Jan Bakelants BEL 25 Daniele Bennati ITA 31 George Bennett NZL 21 Matthew Busche USA 26 Fabian Cancellara SUI 30 Laurent Didier LUX 27 Jakob Fuglsang DEN 26 Tony Gallopin FRA 23 Linus Gerdemann GER 29 Ben Hermans BEL 25 Christopher Horner USA 40 Markel Irizar ESP 31 Benjamin King USA 22 Andreas Klöden GER 36 Tiago Machado POR 26 Maxime Monfort BEL 28 Nelson Oliveira POR 22 Yaroslav Popovych UKR 32 Joost Posthuma NED 30 Grégory Rast SUI 31 Thomas Rohregger AUT 29 Hayden Roulston NZL 31 Andy Schleck LUX 26 Frank Schleck LUX 31 Jesse Sergent NZL 23 Jens Voigt GER 40 Robert Wagner GER 28 Oliver Zaugg SUI 30 Haimar Zubeldia ESP 34 Giacomo Nizzolo ITA 22

Comment: the result of a merger between Radioshack and Leopard, the deal was done to keep both teams on the road but has resulted in a powerful team. It goes without saying Andy Schleck needs a win, arguably the best climber in the world he should find team management obliging him to improve weaknesses in descending and time trialling. Cancellara lost out to Tony Martin last year but the duel should be fascinating this year and he’ll find support for the classics, something lacking last year.Voigt soldiers on and the team has riders who could be leaders if they left for a small squad, like Klöden or Fuglsang . Watch Sergent, a top time triallist and Gallopin.



Sky Pro Cycling

Country Great Britain Sponsor Television broadcaster Bikes Pinarello, Shimano Manager David Brailsford Sports Directors Sean Yates, Steven De Jongh, Marcus Ljungqvist, Servais Knaven, Nicolas Portal

Davide Appollonio ITA 22 Michael Barry CAN 36 Edvald Boasson Hagen NOR 24 Mark Cavendish GBR 26 Alex Dowsett GBR 23 Bernhard Eisel AUT 30 Juan Antonio Flecha ESP 34 Chris Froome GBR 26 Mathew Hayman AUS 33 Sergio Henao COL 24 Jeremy Hunt GBR 37 Peter Kennaugh GBR 22 Christian Knees GER 30 Thomas Löfkvist SWE 27 Lars Petter Nordhaug NOR 27 Danny Pate USA 32 Richie Porte AUS 26 Salvatore Puccio ITA 22 Michael Rogers AUS 32 Luke Rowe GBR 21 Kanstantin Siutsou BLR 29 Ian Stannard GBR 24 Christopher Sutton AUS 27 Ben Swift GBR 24 Geraint Thomas GBR 25 Rigoberto Uran COL 24 Bradley Wiggins GBR 31 Xabier Zandio ESP 34

Comment: arguably the most complete team for 2012. They can win sprints, classics and are even close to landing a grand tour win. Team management have a problem most other managers would love to grapple with: how to fit so many riders together. For example can you give Thomas and Boasson Hagen leadership roles when they might also be on lead out duty for Cavendish? Will Sutton and Swift be locomotives in the sprint train. Can Uran and Porte win or will they pull for Wiggins? All these questions will be settled in time and you can be sure the methodic managers have it all worked out… on paper at least. The Tour de France is looking good for Wiggins and the surprise of Froome in the Vuelta gives the team even more options. Watch Henao and Kennaugh for suprises.



Team Saxo Bank

Country Denmark Sponsor Foreign currency broker Bikes Specialized, SRAM Manager Bjarne Riis Sports Directors Dan Frost, Nicolas Gates, Fabrizio Guidi, Tristan Hoffman, Philippe Mauduit, Bradley McGee

Manuele Boaro ITA 24 Jonathan Cantwell AUS 30 Mads Christensen DEN 27 Alberto Contador ESP 29 Volodymir Gustov UKR 34 Juan José Haedo ARG 30 Lucas Sebastian Haedo ARG 28 Jesus Hernandez ESP 30 Jonas Jörgensen DEN 25 Christopher Juul Jensen DEN 22 Kasper Klostergaard DEN 28 Karsten Kroon NED 35 Anders Lund DEN 26 Ran Margaliot ISR 23 Jaroslaw Marycz POL 24 Takashi Miyazawa JPN 33 Michael Morkov DEN 26 Daniel Navarro ESP 28 Benjamin Noval ESP 32 Nick Nuyens BEL 31 Sergio Paulinho POR 31 Bruno Pires POR 30 Luke Roberts AUS 34 Nicki Sörensen DEN 36 Chris Anker Sörensen DEN 27 David Tanner AUS 27 Matteo Tosatto ITA 37 Troels Ronning Vinther DEN 24 Rafal Majka POL 22

Comment: the team’s fate is largely dependent on a Swiss arbitration court and Contador’s future sets the tone for the whole squad. Capable of winning two grand tours in a season, Contador will find a squad at his service if he is able to continue riding. But team manager Bjarne Riis is able to get out of the tightest corners and bring out the best in his riders, for example don’t be surprise to see Kroon or Nuyens win a classic. Note the sponsor has signed on for one year and the team will need some success to continue.



Vacansoleil – DCM

Country Netherlands Sponsor Holiday campsites, Gardenening products Bikes Bianchi, Shimano, FFWD Manager Daan Luijkx Sports Directors Hilaire Van Der Schueren, Michel Cornelisse, Charles Palmans, Jean-Paul Van Poppel

Kris Boeckmans BEL 24 Matteo Carrara ITA 32 Thomas De Gendt BEL 25 Stefan Denifl AUT 24 Stijn Devolder BEL 32 Romain Feillu FRA 27 Johnny Hoogerland NED 28 Martijn Keizer NED 23 Sergey Lagutin UZB 30 Gustav Larsson SWE 31 Björn Leukemans BEL 34 Pim Ligthart NED 23 Bertjan Lindeman NED 22 Marco Marcato ITA 27 Tomasz Marczynski POL 27 Wouter Mol NED 29 Jacek Morajko POL 30 Martin Mortensen DEN 27 Nikita Novikov RUS 22 Marcello Pavarin ITA 25 Wouter Poels NED 24 Rob Ruijgh NED 25 Mirko Selvaggi ITA 26 Rafael Valls ESP 24 Kenny Van Hummel NED 29 Kevin Van Impe BEL 30 Frederik Veuchelen BEL 33 Lieuwe Westra NED 29 Barry Markus NED 20

Comment: an attacking team who liven up many a race, I sometimes feel this comes at the expense of actual wins. Hoogerland’s antics are popular but he is surely capable of winning and barring any rogue drivers, he should do something. Feillu is a useful sprinter, wild to watch yet intelligent too. The likes of Poels and Westra are strong rouleurs. The main sponsor provides camping holidays around Europe and team management focus on hiring value for money talent across Europe. Happy campers include Valls, poached from the collapse of Geox and signing Novikov was a coup, the Russian neo pro was pulled away from Katusha.

UCI Pro Continental and Continental status

The next level down is UCI Pro Continental and, pending confirmation, there are 22 teams. These squads have a lighter regulatory regime but nevertheless must comply with many rules. Finally there is the UCI Continental level which offers professional status and at the time of writing there are 80 teams around the world with this label.