Looking at the “road cred” of the cyclists in the 2009 Amgen Tour of California, you could support the tour organizers' assertion that this is “the strongest field of professional cyclists ever assembled in the United States.”
[For an objective look at that claim, check John Wilcockson at VeloNews. He reminds us that previous Coors Classics and Tours DuPont had strong fields, as did the 1986 Worlds championship held in Colorado Springs.]
The full roster of 136 cyclists on 17 teams are listed below. Scanning the list, I don't see many of today's top cyclists who aren't on it, except for 2 former Tour de France winners, Alberto Contador (2007) and Oscar Pereiro (2006), all of Spain. I'd expect a high level of competition as the race rolls through California Feb. 14-22.
Leading the bunch will be 2-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer, above. Joining him on the Astana team will be comeback king Lance Armstrong, winner of 7 Tours de France.
Some of the other heavy international hitters at the Tour of California:
Ivan Basso: The Italian on Liquigas raced in the first Tour of California, won the Giro d'Italia in 2006, then ran afoul of doping scandals and was banned for two years. He was one of Armstrong's challengers at the end of his string of Tour de France victories.
Tom Boonen: The QuickStep cyclist is a one-day specialist, marking 14 stage wins in 2008, as well as the 2008 Paris-Roubaix. He was two Tour de France stages in 2007 as well as the point jersey.
Mark Cavendish: Considered the current top sprinter, the Columbia cyclist won 14 stages last year, including 4 at the Tour de France, 2 at the Giro d'Italia and 3 at Tour of Missouri.
Thor Hushovd: Riding for Cervelo, the Norwegian has six stage wins at the Tour de France to his credit, among other sprinting achievements.
Kim Kirchen: The Luxembourg cyclist on Columbia wore the yellow jersey at the Tour de France for four stages in 2008.
Other international heavy hitters include Oscar Freire (Spain, Rabobank), Michael Rogers (Australia, Columbia), Andy Schleck (Luxembourg, Saxo Bank), and Jens Voigt (Germany, Saxo Bank).
Among the US cyclists at the Tour of California with strong careers are George Hincapie (2 stages Tour de France and winner of 2007 Tour of Missouri, Columbia), Tyler Hamilton (2008 Nationals champion, Rock Racing), Floyd Landis (winner of first Tour of California, OUCH), Christian Vande Velde (winner of 2008 Tour of Missouri, Garmin), David Zabriskie (only US stage winner for all three Grand Tours).
Here's the roster, supplied at CyclingNews:
Astana
1. Levi Leipheimer(USA)
2. Lance Armstrong (USA)
3. Janez Brajkovic (SLO)
4. Christopher Horner (USA)
5. Steve Morabito (SUI)
6. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
7. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (ESP)
8. Greg Rast (SUI)
Saxo Bank
11. Fabian Cancellara (Swi)
12. Andy Schleck (Lux)
13. Frank Schleck (Lux)
14. Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe)
15. Jason McCartney (USA)
16. Jens Voigt (Ger)
17. Juan José Haedo (Arg)
18. Stuart O'Grady (Aus)
Columbia
21. George Hincapie (USA)
22. Mark Cavendish (GBr)
23. Adam Hansen (Aus)
24. Michael Barry (Can)
25. Kim Kirchen (Lux)
26. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe)
27. Mark Renshaw (Aus)
28. Michael Rogers (Aus)
Garmin-Slipstream
31. Christian Vande Velde (USA)
32. Steven Cozza (USA)
33. Thomas Danielson (USA)
34. Tyler Farrar (USA)
35. Trent Lowe (Aus)
36. Thomas Peterson (USA)
37. Svein Tuft (Can)
38. David Zabriskie (USA)
Quick Step
41. Tom Boonen (Bel)
42. Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa)
43. Kevin De Weert (Bel)
44. Addy Engels (Ned)
45. Kevin Hulsmans (Bel)
46. Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel)
47. Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel)
48. Marco Velo (Ita)
Rabobank
51. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa)
52. Robert Gesink (Ned)
53. Stef Clement (Ned)
54. Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa)
55. Bauke Mollema (Ned)
56. Grischa Niermann (Ger)
57. Pieter Weening (Ned)
58. Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col)
Liquigas
61. Ivan Basso (Ita)
62. Kjell Carlström (Fin)
63. Francesco Chicchi (Ita)
64. Daniel Oss (Ita)
65. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita)
66. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
67. Brian Vandborg (Den)
68. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita)
AG2R La Mondiale
71. Cyril Dessel (Fra)
72. Hubert Dupont (Fra)
73. Martin Elmiger (Swi)
74. John Gadret (Fra)
75. Stéphane Goubert (Fra)
76. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) v77. Christophe Riblon (Fra)
78. Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Cervelo
81. Carlos Sastre (Spa)
82. Iñigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa)
83. Thor Hushovd (Nor)
84. Edward King (USA)
85. Brett Lancaster (Aus)
86. Serge Pauwels (Bel)
87. Dominique Rollin (Can)
88. Hayden Roulston (NZl)
BMC
91. Markus Zberg (Swi)
92. Alexandre Moos (Swi)
93. Jeffry Louder (USA)
94. Mathias Frank (Swi)
95. Thomas Frei (Swi)
96. Scott Nydam (USA)
97. Ian McKissick (USA)
98. Jonathan Garcia (USA)
OUCH
101. Floyd Landis (USA)
102. Rory Sutherland (Aus)
103. Tim Johnson (USA)
104. Cameron Evans (Can)
105. Bradley White (USA)
106. Jonathan Patrick McCarty (USA)
107. Kari Menzies (Aus)
108. John Murphy (USA)
Bissell
111. Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA)
112. Tom Zirbel (USA)
113. Kirk O'Bee (USA)
114. Jeremy Vennell (NZl)
115. Frank Pipp (USA)
116. Omer Kem (USA)
117. Peter Latham (USA) v118. Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA)
Team Type 1
121. Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex)
122. Fabio Calabria (Aus)
123. Ian MacGregor (USA) &nbs;
124. Christopher Jones (USA)
125. Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr)
126. Darren Lill (RSA)
127. Phil Southerland (USA)
128. Matthew Wilson (Aus)
Colavita
131. Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (Arg)
132. Anibal Andres Borrajo (Arg)
133. Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg)
134. Aaron Olson (USA)
135. Luis Amaran (Cub)
136. Tyler Wren (USA)
137. Andy Guptil (COL)
138. Davide Frattini (Ita)
Jelly Belly
141. Bradley Huff (USA)
142. Bernard Van Ulden (USA)
143. Kiel Reijnen (USA)
144. Phillip Gaimon (USA)
145. Will Routley (Can)
146. Matthew Crane (USA)
147. Nicholas Reistad (USA)
148. Jonathan Clark (AUS)
Fly V Australia
151. Ben Day (Aus)
152. Bernard Sulzberger (Aus)
153. Phil Zajicek (USA)
154. Michael Grabinger (USA)
155. Scott Davis (Aus)
156. David Kemp (Aus)
157. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus)
158. Charles Dionne (Can)
Rock Racing
161. Oscar Sevilla (Spa)
162. Tyler Hamilton (USA)
163. Francisco Mancebo (Spa)
164. Enrique Gutierrez (Spa)
165. Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col)
166. Fred Rodriguez (USA) 167. Glen Chadwick (NZL)
168. Chris Baldwin (USA)
Recent Comments