Team nine of the season preview, it's the old Cannondale/Garmin/Slipstream team, who I'll call Education First.
They almost went under, when an unnamed sponsor pulled out during the Vuelta leaving a seven million euro hole in the budget. They didn't though, EF Education First stepped in and now they have pink shoulder pads. On the bike, the result of the year was Rigoberto Uran's second place at the Tour de France (above). He rode a very conservative race, which given the quality of his team made a lot of sense, and just wouldn't let go. His win in Chambery was a particular highlight, as he rode the descent of the Mont du Chat and the sprint finish with a bent derailleur stuck in his highest gear (53-11). Uran's only other big result of the year was a win at Milan-Torino, but second on the tour is more than enough to be a great year.
Also in the grand tours, Pierre Rolland won a stage of the Giro, within days of Andrew Talanksy's win at the Tour of California breaking a two year streak without a world tour win. Davide Villella won the king of the mountains jersey at the Vuelta, leading basically from start to finish, and Michael Woods finished seventh overall.
In the classics, Sep Vanmarcke was third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, fourth at RideLondon and the Bretagne Classic, and in the top 10 at both Canadian grand prix. He crashed out of the Tour of Flanders, where teammate Dylan Van Baarle finished fourth. Sebastian Langeveld got on the podium at Paris-Roubaix in Vanmarcke's absence a week later. Tom-Jelte Slagter's podium finish on Montreal rounded out a pretty strong year for a team not know for it's classics prowess.
Given that the team almost folded, many riders were allowed release from their contracts, so it was quite the exodus. The already mentioned Van Baarle, Villella(above) and Slagter were joined by the very talented Italian pair of Alberto Bettiol and Davide Formolo, plus Ryan Mullen, Toms Skujns, Kristijan Koren, Wouter Wippert and Patrick Bevan.
Again because of uncertain circumstances regarding their future their signings were a little odd. From having very little sprinting prowess last year, they now have Sacha Modolo (above) and Dan McClay who are both capable of mixing it with the world's best, though neither has yet delivered that killer victory. They are joined by Mitch Docker, Logan Owen, Matti Breschel, Kim Magnusson, Daniel Martinez, Daniel Moreno and Julian Cardona.
Probably not very well. Dan McClay (above) might finally win a stage of the Tour de France, he may even be the only sprinter there. Michael Woods will win a stage of a grand tour I'm quite confident in that, and Uran will continue to be mysterious yet lovable.
