2008 Teams Preview Part 5: Aqua e Sapone through Health Net

In this installment, I will briefly preview the first part of the Pro Continental Teams, starting with Aqua e Sapone and finishing with Health Net-Maxxis. Because many of these teams are small, the previews will also be smaller; Depth ratings are on the same scale as the ProTour teams.

Aqua e Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
Italian
Team Manager: Franco Gini
Key Riders: Stefano Garzelli, 2000 Giro winner, also winner of six stages in his career; Luca Paolini, Vuelta stage winner, 3rd places in both Milano-San Remo and de Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Depth: 5/10, although the team is weak besides Garzelli and Paolini, those two together make this team better than some of the French ProTour teams. Aqua e Sapone is definitely in the top tier of the Pro Continental teams.
Expectations: Win some Italian races; a stage of the Giro would be the high point of their season.

Agritubel
French
Team Manager: David Fornes
Key Riders: Juan Miguel Mercado, twice a stage winner in the Tour; Benoit Salmon, former Best Young Rider in the Tour.
Depth: 4/10, they're a small French team, what more do you want?
Expectations: Wins in small French races, maybe put a couple riders in big breaks in the Tour and hope that they can sneak a stage win or a leaders' jersey for a day.






Andalucia-Cajasur

Spanish
Team Manager: Antonio Cabello
Key Rider: Luis Perez Rodriguez, thrice a top-10 finisher in the Vuelta, and two stage wins.
Depth: 2/10, after Rodriguez, they have nada.
Expectations: Wins in small Spanish races, a good Vuelta for Rodriguez.






Barloworld
British/South African
Team Manager: Claudio Corti
Key Riders: Juan Mauricio Soler, who won a stage and the King of the Mountains jersey in the 2007 Tour; Baden Cooke, winner of the Points jersey in the '03 Tour; Robbie Hunter, second in the Points competition with a stage win in the '07 Tour (also the first African rider to ever win a stage of the Tour).
Depth: 6/10, a very good team which is probably deserving of ProTour status.
Expectations: Miscellaneous sprint wins from Cooke and Hunter, and a good Tour, especially for Soler.





Benfica
Portuguese
Team Manager: Orlando Rodiguez
Key Rider: Jose Azevedo, a top-5 finisher in the Giro and Tour.
Depth: 1/10 Take Azevdeo out of this team and they won't win anything of note for the next 50 years.
Expectations: High finishes in stage races and maybe a mountain stage win for Azevedo.





Ceramica Flaminia
Italian
Team Manager: Massimo Podenzana
Key Riders: You're kidding, right? The only thing any of this team's riders have won in the last 5 years is the National Championships of Belarus.
Depth: Hahaha......0/10, they suck.
Expectations: Ride a race. Just one, that's all the sponsors require.

Ceramica Panaria-Navigare
Irish, yes that's right, they're IRISH!
Team Manager: Roberto Reverberi
Key Riders: Luis Felipe Laverde, twice a Giro stage winner; Fortunato Baliani, a frequent high finisher in the Giro KOM competition; Juli Alberto Perez, two stage wins and the KOM inf the 2002 Giro.
Depth: 4/10, a slightly below-average team which only really comes out to race in the Giro.
Expectations: A good Giro and wins in small Italian races.





Topsport Vlaanderen
Belgian
Team Manager: Christophe Sercu
Key Rider: Nico Eekhout, former Belgian Champion and 2005-6 UCI Europe Tour Champion.
Depth: 3/10, better than would be expected, though, for a small Belgian team.
Expectations: Good placings in the Classics and semi-classics, and a good showing in the UCI European Tour.

DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed
British/Australian
Team Manager: Rudi Dubois
Key Riders: Nico Mattan, winner of the GP Ouest France-Plouay and Ghent-Wevelgem; Hamish Haynes, former British Champion.
Depth: 2/10, very, very poor.
Expectations: A good domestic season and maybe a semi-classic.


Elk Haus-Simplon
Austrian
Team Manager: Alexander Albrecht
Key Riders: None. Seriously.
Depth: -10/10. They make French teams look good.
Expectations: Don't crash the team bus.



Fuerteventura-Canarias
Spanish
Team Manager: Jorge Sastre
Key Riders: Iker Flores is the only rider on this team who I've ever heard of. He was the lanterne rouge of the 2005 Tour.
Depth: 0/10. They are a small Spanish team that amounts to nothing.
Expectations: Get a wild card entry to the Vuelta.

Health Net-Maxxis
American
Team Manager: Mike Tamayo
Key Riders: Gord Fraser, a prolific sprinter in the domestic racing scene; Scott Moninger, the team's best climber; Kirk O'Bee, who has won seven races for Health Net over the last two seasons.
Depth: 3/10, but one of the best teams on the American pro circuit.
Expectations: A fifth consecutive US NRC title and a lot of domestic sucess.

That's the first third of the Pro Continental Teams. Next time I'll preview Intel-Action through Relax-Gam.