The Competition in 2011 - Part 1

The 18 teams in the 2011 UCI World Tour are obligated to compete in each of the 27 events for the inaugural season since the UCI reorganized the competition. All 26 events from the 2010 UCI World Ranking are included and the new Tour of Beijing has been added to this schedule. A quick overview of each of these teams, as well as a few notable teams on the outside looking in, is listed below.

AG2R La Mondiale

Team Leaders: John Gadret (79 MO, 74 HIL); Jean-Christophe Peraud (77 MO, 76 TT); Nicolas Roche (77 MO, 77 HIL, 71 TT)

AG2R didn't get the best results in 2010 and now has to move on from Tadej Valjavec after his "irregular blood values." The future may look better, though, as Nicolas Roche is coming off a 6th place finish in the Vuelta last year. The French riders on the team still represent well on their country's only UCI World Tour team.

BMC Racing Team

Team Leaders: Alessandro Ballan (78 FL, 80 COB); Cadel Evans (82 MO, 81 HIL, 79 TT); George Hincapie (76 FL, 78 COB)

BMC has two of the last three road race world champions on the squad. Cadel Evans won La Flèche Wallonne last year and has finished twice in the Tour in previous years. He will be considered one of the favorites in July to finally break through to the top spot. Alessandro Ballan had a rough first season with the team in 2010, but he was cleared of a doping suspension and is ready to go and lead the team built around him in the cobblestone classics this spring.

Euskaltel - Euskadi

Team Leaders: Igor Antón (81 MO, 80 HIL); Samuel Sánchez (81 MO, 81 HIL, 76 TT)

The pride of the Basque country picked an excellent exception to their otherwise entirely Basque squad. Samuel Sánchez has finished once the podium twice in the Vuelta and nearly did so in the Tour last year, finishing fourth. Though not adept enough against the clock, Igor Antón can also compete in the Giro and Vuelta while Sánchez focuses on the Tour.

HTC - High Road

Team Leaders: Mark Cavendish (80 FL, 83 SP); Tony Martin (78 FL, 76 MO, 82 TT); Marco Pinotti (76 MO, 74 HIL, 77 TT)

HTC-High Road are all in on Mark Cavendish, who already has 15 stage wins in the Tour and five more in the Giro. The one thing he doesn't have is a points victory in a grand tour, but his spring train is built to lead him over that hump at long last. Young Tony Martin is already a world class time trialist and will compete to win week-long stage races when he's not helping Cavendish at the grand tours, though he may be given the freedom to pursue his own interests if he continues to improve.

Katusha Team

Team Leaders: Filippo Pozzato (78 FL, 76 HIL, 80 COB); Joaquím Rodríguez (80 MO, 82 HIL)

In their second season in the peloton, Katusha Team broke through as one of the top ranked teams, led by UCI World Ranking champion Joaquím Rodríguez. He won a stage and finished high in the rankings at both the Tour and Vuelta. He also won Volta a Catalunya, finished second at La Flèche Wallonne, and finished in the top five in several other major races. The Russian contingent on the team has disappointed lately and will have the team's 2011 success depend on Rodríguez and Filippo Pozzato.

Lampre - ISD

Team Leaders: Damiano Cunego (78 MO, 80 HIL); Alessandro Petacchi (78 FL, 81 SP); Michele Scarponi (81 MO, 78 HIL, 73 TT)

Michele Scarponi had his big grand tour breakthrough at age 30 by finishing 4th in the Giro. There is hope he can make the podium in 2011. Damiano Cunego is now seven years from his maglia rosa, but he is still an elite rider in the classics and one-week races. Now 37, Alessandro Petacchi is also still an elite sprinter and is the defending green jersey winner at the Tour.

Leopard Trek

Team Leaders: Fabian Cancellara (82 FL, 83 TT, 83 COB); Andy Schleck (83 MO, 80 HIL, 72 TT); Fränk Schleck (81 MO, 81 HIL, 70 TT)

Most of the key riders to Team Saxo Bank's first place in the 2010 UCI World Ranking have moved over to the new Luxembourg-based Leopard Trek. Fabian Cancellara is one of the most accomplished individuals in modern cycling and he will only turn 30 in March. The brothers Schleck are both Tour favorites and will compete in the hilly classics, the only ones Spartacus can't win. The team will be one of the favorites to win the team classification in the 2011 UCI World Tour.

Liquigas - Cannondale

Team Leaders: Ivan Basso (81 MO, 76 HIL, 72 TT); Vincenzo Nibali (81 MO, 78 HIL, 77 TT); Peter Sagan (76 HIL, 71 COB, 76 SP)

Liquigas is coming off a grand year in which Ivan Basso won the Giro and Vincenzo Nibali won the Vuelta. The team finished a close second in the UCI World Tour. They will look to wear pink and red again this season, but Basso still has ambitions in France to improve on his second place in 2005. The future is even brighter with young Peter Sagan, who won several stages and the green jersey at Paris-Nice at just the age of 20.

Movistar Team

Team Leaders: Rubén Plaza (76 MO, 75 HIL, 74 TT); José Joaquín Rojas (74 FL, 80 SP)

The suspension of Alejandro Valverde looms over the team as they lost their main sponsor, their next best rider Luis León Sánchez to Rabobank, and rebranded as Movistar in the offseason. The team could be at risk of relegation as they are built for the mountains but lack a true GC threat in the grand tours. José Joaquín Rojas is considered an elite sprinter and finished fourth in the points classification at the Tour last year, but he will need to come through in the clutch as he did not win a stage in 2010.

Omega Pharma - Lotto

Team Leaders: Philippe Gilbert (77 FL, 84 HIL, 78 COB); André Greipel (79 FL, 82 SP); Jurgen Van den Broeck (80 MO, 76 HIL, 72 TT)

Philippe Gilbert had a great run in the spring classics, winning the Amstel Gold Race, then finished the year well with two stage wins at the Vuelta and a victory at the Giro di Lombardia. Gilbert has already finished on the podium in all of the monuments except for Paris-Roubaix, and he will try to finish the collection this year. Jurgen Van den Broeck and new teammate André Greipel will also chase jerseys at the Tour, where the latter will make his debut out of the shadow of Mark Cavendish from his years at what is now HTC - High Road.

Pro Team Astana

Team Leaders: Roman Kreuziger (78 MO, 79 HIL, 79 TT); Alexandre Vinokourov (78 MO, 80 HIL, 76 TT)

Alberto Contador was 4-for-4 at the grand tours during his three years on Pro Team Astana, but he and most of his Spanish compatriots have left the team. Alexandre Vinokourov will always be the star of the team, and he delivered after returning from his suspension by winning Liège–Bastogne–Liège and performing well in the Giro and Tour. Astana has also added Roman Kreuziger, who had two top ten finishes at the Tour and had won multiple week-long races on Liquigas.

Quick-Step Cycling Team

Team Leaders: Tom Boonen (80 FL, 82 COB, 77 SP); Sylvain Chavanel (78 FL, 76 HIL, 80 COB)

As Tom Boonen performs, so does Quick-Step Cycling Team. Boonen started the year winning several stages and placing second at Milano-Sanremo and Ronde van Vlaanderen, but an injury after some crashes kept him out for most of the year. He is healthy again for 2011 and has a team built to help him succeed, which he must as there is not much else expected of them. Sylvain Chavanel can compete in the classics, too, and is always ready to shake up the Tour, where he won two stages and spent two days in yellow last season.