Garmin-Slipstream
Registered Nation: United States
Bicycles: Felt
Components: Shimano
Star Riders: Christian Vande Velde David Miller, David Zabriskie, Bradley Wiggins
Title Sponsors: Garmin is a GPS manufacturer, and Slipstream Sports is a sports marketing and development company.

Team Garmin-Chipolte began as the UCI Continental Team TIAA-CREF. It was established in 2004 as a development team for young U.S. riders. Originally it consisted of both professional and amateur riders. In its current structure, Garmin-Slipstream was established at the beginning of 2007. The team's directeur sportif and general manager is former professional cyclist Jonathan Vaughters.  In the 2007 season, the team mainly focused on the US domestic circuit with a satellite program in Europe to help younger riders acclimate to demands of European racing.

For 2008 the team signed high profile riders David Zabriskie, David Millar, Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson and former Paris- Roubaix winner, Magnus Bäckstedt. Due to their extensive anti-doping program the team was invited to many major races including Paris-Nice, Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix. They also received invitations to the 2008 Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. In the Giro d’Italia the team road brilliantly in the opening team time trial to put Christian Vande Velde in the pink jersey. Throughout their first grand tour the team was aggressive with David Millar almost winning stage five before a broken chain ended his chances. In June 2008 the team announced that GPS makes Garmin had taken over as title sponsor beginning at the 2008 Tour de France. In their first Tour de France the team rode well with Christain Vande Velde finishing fifth overall

For the 2009 Tour de France the team is looking for David Millar and David Zabriske to do well in the time trials and hoping Vande Velde can repeat his performance from last year. The team will be bolstered by young sprinter Tyler Farrar who has an impressive season, taking a stage win in Tirreno-Adriatico.



Katusha
Registered Nation: Russia
Bicycles: Ridley
Components: Campagnolo
Star Riders: Filippo Pozzato, Robbie McEwen Valimadir Karpets and Gert Steegmans.
Title Sponsors: A coalition of companies from Russia.

New to the ProTour, the Katusha team is built the on the foundation of the Tinkoff continental team that was started in the 2007. After two successful seasons in the European peloton the team received an influx of cash from a coalition of companies from Russia. With the influx of rubbles the team signed several top riders including Filippo Pozzato, Robbie McEwen Vladimir Karpets and Gert Steegmans.

For the 2009 Tour de France the team will looking for stage victories from Filippo Pozzato. Aside from stage wins the team will be looking to Vladimir Karpets to ride high in the general classification.



Milram
Registered Nation: Germany
Bicycles: Focus
Components: SRAM
Star Riders: Linus Gerdmann, Gerald Ciolek
Title Sponsors: Milram is a brand of the Bremen based Nordmilch Company.

Milram was formed at the beginning of 2006 from the remains of the Domina Vacanze team. The team was designed around star sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Erik Zabel with a mix of  German and Italian support riders. Milram’s first year was rough with star sprinter Alessandro Petacchi crashing and breaking his knee cap during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia. Erik Zabel did his best to fill the void by winning the best sprinter’s jersey at the Tour of Germany and second place at the world championships in addition to two stages of the Vuelta a España.

In 2007 Alessandro Petacchi came back and won five stages of the Giro d’Italia and Paris-Tours. The team suffered a major set back during the 2007 Giro d’Italia when Petacchi tested positive for the drug salbutamol. Petacchi had a certificate to use salbutamol for the treatment of asthma, but his level of salbutamol was above the UCI limit. Petacchi was then absolved by the FCI when they deemed that overuse of Salbutamol was simple human error. The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) argued that Petacchi should be suspended for the high level of salbutamol and sent the case to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On May 6, 2008 the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Petacchi until the end of August and as a result of his suspension Team Milram fired Petacchi on May 16, 2008.

In 2008 Team Milram became a German registered team focused on the Tour de France and the development of young riders. The 2008 season saw the team only win ten races with eight of the victories coming from Petacchi before his termination. For 2009 the Milram team under went a major transformation, dumping its Italian contingent and signing Linus Gerdemann and Gerald Ciolek away from Columbia-Highroad.



Lampre
Registered Nation: Italy
Bicycles: Willer
Components: Campagnolo
Star Riders: Damiano Cunego, Alessandro Ballan
Title Sponsors: Lampre is an Italian manufacturer of prefinished steel sheet materials, Fondital designs and produces aluminum radiators.

Lampre first entered cycling in 1991 as co-sponsor of  the Colnago-Lampre team. They then took over as title sponsor in 1992. In 1993 Maurizion Fondriest, won Milan–Sanremo as well as the overall World Cup. Lampre ended sponsorship at the end of 1995 even though the team continued as smaller outfit under the name Ceramica Panaria-Vinavil.
 
Lampre re-entered cycling in 1999, sponsoring the team with Daikin. The Lampre-Daikin team found success with Giberto Simoni when he won the 2001 Giro d’ Italia. Simoni would leave the team in 2002 for Saeco. Daikin remained a co-sponsor until the end of 2002. At the end of 2004, Lampre merged with Saeco to meet the demands of the new ProTour. At the end of the 2005 season Gilberto Simoni left the team for Saunier Duval-Prodir. This left Damiano Cunego as undisputed leader.

In 2006 Fondital joined as co-sponsor of the Lampre team. The team was renamed Lampre – Fondital. In the 2006 Tour de France Damiano Cunego won the best young rider competition along with a stage win at the Giro del Trentino.

2007 brought victory in the Tour of Flanders courtesy of Alessandro Ballan, while Cunego won the Giro di Lombaradia. In 2008 team leader Damiano Cunego skipped the Giro d’Italia focused on winning the overall classification for the Tour de France. Cunego was unsuccessful, struggling in the mountains before suffering a horrible crash on forcing him to abandon. For 2009 Cunego has is returning to Giro d’Italia in the hopes of repeating his victory of 2004. With their GC riders focused on the Giro, expect the Lampre team to be looking for stage wins.



Liquigas
Registered Nation: Italy
Bicycles: Cannondale
Components: Campagnolo
Star Riders: Ivan Basso, Daniele Bennati, Vincenzo Nibali
Title Sponsors: Liquigas is a bottled gas distributor.

The Liguigas – Pata team first appeared in 1999 as a second division team. In 2000 they moved up to Division one with the addition of Davide Rebellin and several other strong Italian riders. The original team disbanded at the end of the 2002 season.

The current team structure is rooted in the old Alessio team, and the Bianchi team that was built around Jan Ullrich in 2003. When Ullrich returned to the T-mobile at the end of the 2003 season Bianchi became sponsor of the Alessio team. The team was then renamed Alessio – Bianchi. During this time the team’s biggest victory came with Magnus Magnus Bäckstedt’s win at the 2004 edition of Paris-Roubaix.

In the 2005 Liguigas took over as title sponsor and the team’s name was again changed to Liguigas – Bianchi. 2005 saw Danilo Di Luca dominate the early season winning Vuelta al País Vasco the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne. This same year Di Luca also won a stage of the Giro d’Italia and the overall ProTour title.

For 2007 Cannondale replaced Bianchi as the bicycle sponsor of the team. This marked Cannondale's return to the ProTour after ending sponsorship of the Lampre-Caffita team at the end of the 2005 season. 2007 saw Di Luca win the Giro d’Italia with dominating rides in the mountains, but he was then implicated in the “oil for drugs” scandal and as a result he was suspended for three months. Despite his win in the Giro d'Italia  his contract with Liguigas was not renewed. In 2007 the team welcomed the arrival of Filippo Pozzato to the team. The 2006 Milan–Sanremo champion was hired from Quick-Step to bolster the team’s classics squad. Pozzato earned his keep with a strong classics season and a win in the fifth stage of the Tour de France.

In 2008 Liguigas hired Daniele Bennti as the teams top sprinter for the Tour de France, hoping to win the green jersey. However an Achilles heel injury forced him out of the race. The team also made news in May when they signed suspended rider Ivan Basso who not be able to return to competition until October of that year. For 2009 the entire team will be focused on Basso winning the Giro d’Italia.



Rabobank
Registered Nation: Netherlands
Bicycles: Giant
Components: Shimano
Star Riders: Denis Menchov, Oscar Freire
Title Sponsors: Rabobank is a Dutch bank.

The team was first founded in 1984 after the TI-Raleigh team split into two teams due a feud between Jan Raas and its team leader Peter Post. Post took seven TI-Raleigh riders and moved to the new Panasonic team. The remaining riders followed Raas to the Kwantum team, whose team leader at the time was Walter Godefroot. In its first year the Kwantum team won one a stage in the 1984 Tour de France as well as the Amstel Gold Race and the Dutch national title. At the end of 1984 Raas assumed the role of team manager. In 1985 the Kwantum team won two Tour de France stages, the Tour of Luxembourg, Paris-Tours, Paris Brussels, Tirreno-Adriatico, and repeated their win in the Dutch National championship. 1986 was less successful and Kwantum looked to decrease its sponsorship involvement with the team.

For the 1987 season Superconfex took over as title sponsor. The team was renamed Superconfex - Kwantum - Yoko - Colnago. Jan Raas continued his role as team manager and 1987 saw the arrival of Jean-Paul van Poppel who gave the team three stage wins the Tour de France and the green jersey. In 1988 Kwantum withdrew as sponsor and the team was again renamed Superconfex - Yoko - Opel - Colnago. 1988 was a hugely successful season as they took victory at Paris-Brussels, Tour of Belgium, the Amstel Gold Race, and six stages in the Tour de France. In 1999 the teams star sprinter Jean-Paul van Poppel defected and joined rival Peter Post at the Panasonic team. Even without Jean-Paul van Poppel, the team still managed victories in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Tours, and two stages in the 1989 Tour de France.

In 1990 Buckler took over as title sponsor. The Tour of Belgium was won again, and the Ronde van Nederland was won as well. That year, the team had the winner of the Dutch national road race championships again, as Peter Winnen won the race. In 1991 The team pouched Steven Rooks from Panasonic. Rooks would reward his new employer by winning the Dutch national title. The team would also win the Amstel Gold Race and the Tour of Flanders. The 1992 season was the team’s worst year with only 26 wins. The lack of results caused Buckler to end its sponsorship at the end of the season.

In 1993 a new sponsor was found in Wordperfect. The team had bolstered its ranks with star riders Steven Rooks and Raúl Alcalá. Despite the new riders, 1993 was not considered successful as the team only recorded 29 victories. In 1994, they signed Leon Van Bon and Michael Boogerd in addition of Viatcheslav Ekimov and again the team struggled and only recorded 25 victories.

In 1995, Novell Software took over as title sponsor and the team signed sprinter Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. Abdoujaparov  had won the green jersey in the 1994 Tour de France and was considered to be one of the fastest sprinters in the world. Abdoujaparov managed to only win one stage in the Tour de France in 1995. At the end of 1995 Novell pulled its sponsorship.

Rabobank signed in 1996 with Jan Raas still as team manager, while Theo de Rooy, acted as Directeur sportif. With secure sponsorship the team hired the top Dutch cyclists of the 1990s including Adrie van der Poel, Erik Breukink, Leon van Bon, Erik Dekker and Michael Boogerd. In addition the team also found success with riders Rolf Sorensen and Robbie McEwen.

For 2002 they set about building a portion of the team for stage races. The ream hired Levi Leipheimer to the lead the team at the Tour de France. Leipheimer finished eighth in his first Tour de France but crashed out of the race on the first stage of the 2003 Tour. Also in 2003 Jan Raas was removed from his position, which surprised the other members of the staff as well as team riders. Theo De Rooy was promoted to team manager and Erik Breukink moved into the role of Directeur sportif. In 2004 Leipheimer again finished in the top ten by finishing ninth overall. In 2005 Leipheimer switched to the Gerolsteiner team. The same year saw Michael Rasmussen win the polka dot jersey in the Tour de France and Denis Menchov win the Vuelta a Espana after Roberto Heras failed a doping control. In 2006 Rasmussen again repeated his win in the mountains classification of the Tour de France.

In the 2007 Tour de France, Rabobank appeared to finally win the overall with Michael Rasmussen. Rasmussen had won the 2005 and 2006 mountains classification and in 2007 appeared to have discovered new time trailing abilities. Unfortunately during the Tour it came to light Rasmussen had lied about his whereabouts in the months leading up to the Tour. Rasmussen was expelled from the Tour de France and later fired from the Rabobank team. The team continued but was demoralized by the event. In August 2007 in the aftermath of the affair in which Michael Rasmussen’s was removed from the 2007 Tour de France, Theo De Rooy resigned from his position as team manager.
 
Despite the problems of 2007 the Rabobank team was invited for the 2008 Tour de France. Team leader Denis Menchov decided to focus on the Tour de France and rode the 2008 Giro d’Italia as preparation. In the 2008 race Menchov rode well but suffered his customary one bad day that effectively ended his overall chances. Team sprinter Oscar Freire was out classed by mark Cavendish on four occasions but won one stage and took the Green jersey.



Quick Step
Registered Nation: Belgium
Bicycles: Specialized
Components: Campagnolo
Star Riders: Tom Boonen, Stijn Devolder, Sylvain Chavanel
Title Sponsors: Quick Step is a manufacturer of laminate flooring that is available in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia.

The Quick Step is lead by team manager Patrick Lefevere. The sports directors are Alvaro Crespi, Luca Guercilena, Serge Parsani, and Wilfried Peeters The team was formed under the name Quick Step-Davitamon in 2003 from the remains of the Mapei super team that dominated the classics during the late 1990’s. The team’s first team leader was Paolo Bettini who won the World Cup in 2003 and 2004.

In 2005, Innergetic joined as co-sponsor and the team was renamed Quick Step-Innergetic. 2005 also saw the emergence of Tom Boonen as a true classics star. Boonen won Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the world road race championships. That same year Filippo Pozzato won the HEW Cyclassics, and Paolo Bettini the Giro di Lombardia. In 2006 Boonen again won the Tour of Flanders and wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Paolo Bettini won the World Championship and retained his Giro di Lombardia title.

The 2007 season saw Tom Boonen win two stages and the green sprinter jersey in the Tour de France and Paolo Bettini repeat his win as world champion.

In 2008 Tom Boonen tested positive for cocaine in an out of competition test and was excluded from the Tour de France. The Team struggled through the race with no team leader. Gert Steegmans saved the team’s race on the last day my winning the final sprint on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. For the 2009 Steegmans has left Quick Step for the Katusha team and Tom Boonen returns as team leader. Although he only missed one year, Boonen might find it difficult to reclaim his sprinting crown going up against the likes of Mark Cavendish.



Saxo Bank
Registered Nation: Denmark
Bicycles: Specialized
Components: SRAM
Star Riders: Frank Schleck, Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara
Title Sponsors: Saxo Bank is a global investment bank specializing in online trading and investment across the international financial markets.

The team was assembled for the 1998 season under the name Team Home - Jack & Jones, and the first years as a team commenced with Alex Pedersen and Torben Kølbæk as sports directors. The team comprising a mix of first-time professionals along with seasoned veterans Brain Holm and Jesper Skibby. The main sponsors were a Danish real estate agency (home a/s), and a clothes manufacturer Jack & Jones. The team rode its first season in the 2nd division with Jesper Skibby picking up several wins for the team.

In 1999 the team moved up to the 1st Division. Home stopped sponsoring the team, at the end of the season citing doping in the sport as the reason. For the 2000 season, Memory Card a/s stepped in as co-sponsor and Danish cyclist Bo Hamburger was hired as team leader. 2000 was the first year the team was invited to the Tour de France. At the end of the 2000 season, Bjarne Riis took over Professional Cycling Denmark ApS and the team. After the 2000 season the contract with Jack & Jones ended, and Bjarne Riis severed ties with Memory Card due to their financial situation

In 2001 CSC Computer Sciences Corporation  and the European Internet provider World Online took over as title sponsors. World online had just been bought by Italian telecom giant Tiscali and so the team changed to CSC-Tiscali mid season.

The team first gained prominence by signing Laurent Jalabert before the 2001 season. In 2002 the team also signed Tyler Hamilton away from the U.S. Postal Service and Hamilton went on to finish second in the Giro d’Italia despite a broken shoulder. The team also proved itself in the Tour de France, almost winning the team time trial, and Jalabert repeating his victory in the King of the Mountains competition. Jalabert retired in style at the end of the season by winning the Clásica de San Sebastián.

In 2003, Riis renamed Professional Cycling Denmark ApS to Riis Cycling A/S. Tiscali ended its sponsorship, and the team was renamed Team CSC. In 2003 Tyler Hamilton assumed leadership of the team by winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Going into the 2003 Tour Hamilton was considered one of the favorites for the general classification. Unfortunately he crashed on the first stage and suffered a broken collarbone. Despite his injuries he continued and finished fourth overall and won stage sixteen. CSC riders Carlos Sastre and Jakob Piil also won stages in the 2003 Tour de France.

In 2004 Hamilton moved to the Swiss Phonak team. To replace Hamilton the team hired Ivan Basso from the Fassa Bortolo squad as team leader for the grand tours. Basso had won the best young rider competition in the 2002 Tour de France. In 2004 with the help of his CSC team Basso finished third in the Tour de France.

In 2005 CSC announced it was extending their sponsorship through 2008. This allowed Riis to renew the contract with Basso for an additional three years. Basso’s second place finish in the Tour, to a retiring Lance Armstrong, renewed the faith that Riis had once held in Basso’s racing strength. In the 2005 season the cycling community also saw the emergence of David Zabriskie's as one of the best time trial riders in the world. In 2005 Zabriske won a time trial stage in the Giro d’Italia and the prologue of the Tour de France.

In 2006 CSC ambitiously set out to win all three grand tours with team leaders Ivan Basso and Carlos Sastre. Ivan Basso won the Giro d’Italia in dominating fashion but on the eve of the Tour de France it was announced that Ivan Basso would not be riding in the 2006 Tour de France as a result of his alleged involvement in the Operación Puerto. Despite the loss of Basso the team won two stages, including Fränk Schleck's win on Alpe d’Huez. Ivan Basso and Team CSC parted ways shortly after the Tour de France.

2007 the team shifted its focus from grand tours to getting results throughout the season. Stuart O'Grady won Paris-Roubaix, Andy Schleck rode to second place in the Giro and Jens Voigt defended his Tour of Germany title. Even with this more rounded focus the team had a very successful Tour de France with Fabian Cancellara winning the Prologue, and securing a victory in stage three. He also wore the yellow jersey for seven days straight. Carlos Sastre rode well in the mountains to finish fourth overall.

In 2008 the team dominated the race, first putting Frank Schleck in the yellow jersey, before Carlos Sastre took over with an incredible ride on Alpe d'Huez to win the Tour overall. Frank Shleck rode well finishing sixth overall and wearing the yellow jersey. Andy Schleck rode effortlessly around France to take the best young rider competition.

In 2009 the team has lost Carlos Sastre to the new Cervélo team and will rely on Andy and Frank Schleck. Andy won Leige-Bastogne-Leige and despite only being 24 has a good chance of winning the Tour outright.



Skil Shimano (Continental Pro)
Registered Nation: Netherlands
Bicycles: Koga-Miyata
Components: Shimano
Star Riders: Fumiyuki Beppu, Theo Eltink
Title Sponsors: Skil is a manufacturer of small power tools. Shimano is a maker of bicycle components.

The Skil Shimano team is the second team from the Netherlands registered for this year’s Tour de France. Despite being registered in the Netherlands the team has a strong Japanese contingent due their sponsorship by Shimano.
 
The selection of the Skil Shimano team is a bit of surprise as the team has no riders that can content for any of the major competitions. The team that has been in existence since 2005 and has mainly focused classics. Skil originally sponsored the Skil-Sem team in 1984 and 1985. With the lack of a General Classification rider, climber or pure sprinter, look for the Skil Shimano team to be looking for breakaways and the maximizing their TV exposure.



Silence-Lotto
Registered Nation: Belgium
Bicycles: Canyon
Components: Campagnolo
Star Riders: Cadel Evans
Title Sponsors: the Belgian Lottery and Omega Pharma sponsor Silence-Lotto through their Silence brand and previously through their Predictor and Davitamon brands.

Lotto has a long history of cycling sponsorship. It first appeared as title sponsor in 1985. For the majority of the team’s history it has been primarily a classics team, with a focus on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The teams the biggest victory came in the 1994 edition of Paris-Roubaix when Andrei Tchmil won in horrific conditions. Tchmil remained the cornerstone of the team until his retirement in 2002. While at Lotto he won Paris-Tours in 1997, Milano-Sanremo in 1999 as well as the overall world cup. In 2000 he out powered Johann Museeuw to win the Tour of Flanders for his final classics victory.

In 2002 the team began to shift focus and hired sprinter Robbie McEwen to increase their presents in the Grand Tours. McEwen proved his worth by winning the green jersey in his first year with the team. He would repeat this feat in 2004 and 2006. In 2003 the Lotto-Adecco and Domo-Farm Frites teams merged creating the current team structure under the name of Lotto-Domo. The Omega Pharma had co-sponsored in Quick Step-Davitamon in 2003 and 2004 but switched to sponsor the Lotto team in 2005. The team was renamed to Davitamon-Lotto. 2005 also saw a major shift in team strategy with the arrival of Cadel Evans. In his first Tour de France, Evans rode to an impressive eighth place. In 2006 he rose up to finish fourth in the Tour.  In 2007 the teams name was again changed to Predictor-Lotto to promote the company’s line of pregnancy tests. 2007 also saw Cadel Evans become a true contender at the Tour de France, winning a time trial stage and finishing second overall by a mere 23 seconds.

In 2008 Evans started the Tour as the favorite due the absences of the Astana team and Alberto Contador. Evans rode well, putting himself in the yellow jersey. However lack of team support, nerves and a dominating performance by the CSC-Saxo Bank team left Evans open for attack. He was unable to match Carlos Sastre on Alpe d’Huez and though he limited his loses to give himself on last chance in the final time trial it wasn’t enough. For 2009 the team is committed to helping Cadel Evans win the Tour de France. Anything else is going to be a disappointment.