2011 Tour de France Teams Named, Part One

The 22 Tour de France teams have been revealed with a few big names left out of the race so here is a little background on the ones that made it in and the big favourites from the team.

Astana
The Kazak team dominated the tour with Alberto Contador taking the overall GC for the third time in his career. Alexander Vinokorov also took a stage of his own to give the team its only stage win over the three weeks. This year should be much more difficult after losing so many good riders over the winter break and Vino will be their best bet for success.

Ag2R La Mondiale
Ag2R turned out to be the top French team in last year’s tour over 41 minutes down on the eventual winners RadioShack. Team Leader Nicholas Roche showed his Grand Tour potential in only his second Tour de France by finishing 15th. The team were one of the several to win a stage last year and will be hoping to make an entry in to the top 10 in the GC.

BMC Racing Team

This American team made their debut in to the Tour in 2010 with high hopes and top riders. With the, at the time, world champion Cadel Evans the team expected to take first in the GC or at least the podium. Unforeseen circumstances put paid to that when Evans broke his elbow in a crash with in the yellow jersey.

Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
The French team have been scraping in to the Tour of the past few years and are lucky to be in it this year after losing their pro licence. Cofidis failed to win a single stage in 2010 and David Moncoutié is probably their best chance at success in July. Julien El Fares was their highest ranking entry in 27th nearly an hour behind Alberto Contador.

Europcar

Team Europcar is the reincarnation of the Bouygues Telecom team who had to find new sponsorship after being dropped from the ProTour. Despite this they did produce some good results and won three stages including one with Thomas Voeckler. The French national champion worked hard to keep the team together and will want to prove it wasn’t a mistake.

Euskaltel-Euskadi
Euskaltel had their best year at the Tour since joining in 2003 when Haimar Zubeldia came home in their previous best result. Samuel Sanchez has been the team leader over the past few years and really brought the team in to their own. They were unfortunate to lose out on a podium in 2010 after Sanchez crashed losing enough time to let Denis Menchov beat him after the time-trial.

FDJ
Sandy Casar gave Francaise des Jeux their first victory in the Tour for many years after making it over the Col de Madeleine on stage 9. With the singing of another 2010 stage winner Pierrick Fedrigo they would be forgiven for hoping another one may occur this year. Fedrigo beat Lance Armstrong on stage 15 in the Texan’s only clear change for a win.

Garmin-Cervelo
A combination of the Cervelo test team and Garmin transition team from last year they have a very strong team. Thor Hushovd came very close to winning the green jersey while Cameron Meyer put on a good show in the Tour Down Under to win his first professional race. Julian Dean and Tyler Farrar will also prove to be contenders to the green jersey in 2011.

HTC-Highroad

One of the toughest teams to beat in the peloton HTC holds some of the biggest names including Mark Cavendish. The Manxman should benefit from the points system and will be their best bet for a jersey in Paris. However, riders like Matt Goss and Tony Martin could win some stages along the way.

Katusha
Despite being a new team to the Tour the Russian sponsored outfit certainly made their mark with some great performances. Joaquin Rodriguez’s demolition of Contador on stage 12 put him on the map and moved him up the rankings. The Spaniard was unlucky not to be on the podium in the Vuelta a Espana and should be challenging for the GC this year.

Lampre – ISD
The Italian team won the green jersey with Alessandro Petacchi, but at 37 it may prove too much for the Italian this time around. Petacchi won stages 1 and 4 on the way to his sprinter’s jersey, but he struggled to get close one Cavendish found his legs.

Leopard – Trek

The brain child of the Schleck brothers has drawn in some big riders and will be the main contenders for the podium top spot. Andy will be favourite for the GC with Contador still suspended for his positive clenbuterol test. Speed machine Fabian Cancellara should also provide the fledgling team with another couple of victories.