By Bruce Hildenbrand
Riders from the Danish team
CSC lead the pack during Stage 6
of the 2006 Tour de France.
Photo: Javier Soriano/
AFP/Getty Images
Putting together a Tour de France team depends on the goals of the squad. If you have a rider of Lance Armstrong's pedigree you'll certainly be in the mix for the yellow jersey. But not all 21 teams have a rider balanced enough in climbing and time trialing to be a factor in the overall standings. Thus, they may decide to go for individual stage wins or one of the other jerseys.
Cycling is a team sport. We saw Armstrong's Blue Train riding in support for Big Tex day after day at the front of the peloton; eight riders totally dedicated to one goal, supremely motivated because they knew that all their efforts would pay dividends when they pulled over and Lance blasted off for a stage win or the yellow jersey.
The same holds true for sprinters. History has shown that fast finishers are most successful with a leadout train of four to five riders setting a fast tempo in the final kilometers to keep everyone in line and discourage any breakaways. Mario Cipollini turned sprinting into an art form, once winning four stages in a row at the Tour. With a bankable sprinter, a team needs to bring at least four or five riders to form the leadout train that will bring stage glory.
On the other hand, team tactics aren't as critical to the contenders for the mountains jersey. A well-timed attack on a mountain stage or two can be enough to bring home the polka dot jersey. More importantly, the climbs of the Tour are so long and demanding that the terrain soon separates the wheat from the chaff--these "pocket rockets" don't need much support from the team to achieve their goals.
Then there are individual stage wins to be contested. No team demonstrated the opportunistic riding necessary for scalping stage wins better than the Dutch Rabobank squad, which always seemed to have one or more of their riders in the decisive move on the flatter stages. There's not much team support required in this case, just a lot of guys with raw horsepower and the desire to suffer for a few hours when everyone else is saving themselves for the mountains.
Some teams have more than one rider capable of earning stage wins or wearing jerseys at the conclusion of the race. Predictor-Lotto has both a bonafide overall contender in Cadel Evans and a proven sprinter in Robbie McKewen. This creates a difficult decision for the team director: how many support riders should they bring for their general classification contender and how many do they need for their sprinter's leadout train.
It would be great if a support rider could go well on the flats and in the mountains, but because the body type required for each is so different (a notable exception is that of George Hincapie) riders can't really do both. Predictor-Lotto's Chris Horner has been effective uphill and on the flats, so his inclusion on the team is a bonus. On the other hand, Fast Freddie Rodriguez is an awesome sprinter, but because he struggles in the mountains, his value to the team is only as a leadout man.
For 2007, Predictor-Lotto is bringing one less leadout rider and one more climber in hopes of propelling Evans onto the Tour podium. Evans should have four riders in the mountains, with McKewen getting three racers (one of them being Rodriguez) for his leadout train. You might think Evans would be upset at the fact that the team will not be solely dedicated to his goals, but he's said it's actually a benefit to have Robbie winning stages as it takes the pressure off of him to carry the team solely on his shoulders.
Whether a team brings an overall contender, a sprinter or stage contenders, you can be assured that all nine riders on each of the 21 teams will be ready to leave it all on the road to help their team achieve its goals. This, after all, the biggest show on two wheels.