Teams Riding in 2012 Tour de France

As in prior years, there are 22 teams selected to ride in this year’s Tour de France. The TDF website announced in April that 18 teams were selected by UCI rules, and 4 were given "wild card" invitations. The UCI qualification applies to the teams with the most UCI points through the relevant measuring period. There may be some other elements in the formula, but I won’t bore you by drilling deeper in to the minutiae. (Of course, Suzanne recognizes this as my long-winded way of disclosing, without actually admitting it, that I really don't know what I'm talking about.)

The teams will be numbered from 0 [zero] to 21. Each rider will wear a unique number that will reflect his team and his position on the team. Rider number 1 is usually the previous year’s GC champion, so his team would be Team 0, and his number would be 001, but they drop the leading zeros. This year that should be Cadel Evans, riding for BMC. The rest of the BMC team should have numbers 2 through 9. The next team will be number 1, and its riders will wear numbers 11 through 19. This continues through the 22^nd team as team number 21, with riders 211 through 219. Confused yet? At my most recent check of the TDF website, the team numbers and rider numbers had not yet been published, but they will be listed once the race starts. If you watch on television, and you know your favorite team’s number you can identify its riders not only by their unique jersey colors, but also by their numbers.

Most teams assign the number 1 spot on the team to their most promising GC contender. But last year’s HTC team had their famous sprinter Mark Cavendish in the first position. He justified his star billing by claiming 5 stage wins and the overall green jersey for most sprint points. In his multi-year TDF career, Cavendish has now won 20 stages. Most riders would sell their birthright for just one TDF stage win. No wonder he wears number 1 for his team!

Here are the teams invited to compete in this year’s Grand Tour, along with a few notes:

18 UCI-Qualified Teams:
AG2R la Mondiale (ALM), France.
Astana Pro Team (AST), Kazakhstan.
BMC Racing Team (BMC), USA.
Euskatel - Euskadi (EUS), Spain. From Basque Region, mostly Basque riders.
FDJ - BigMat (FDJ), France. BigMat sponsor is French equivalent to Home Depot.
Garmin - Barracuda (GRM), USA. Was Garmin - Cervelo in 2011.
Orica GreenEDGE (OGE), Australia. New to TDF in 2012.  This is a team to watch.
Katusha Team (KAT), Russia.
Lampre - ISD (LAM), Italy.
Liquigas - Cannondale (LIQ), Italy.
Lotto - Belisol Team (LTB), Belgium. See next post for confusing genealogy and ties to OPQ, below.
Omega Pharma - Quick Step (OPQ), Belgium. Levi Leipheimer's new team. 
Movistar Team (MOV), Spain.
Rabobank Cycling Team (RAB), Netherlands.
RadioShack - Nissan (RNT), Luxembourg. Merger of US and Lux teams, see next post.
Sky Procycling (SKY), Great Britain. Inherited Cavendish from HTC which folded.
Team Saxo Bank (SAX), Denmark.
Vacansoleil - DCM (VCD), France.

4 Wild-Card Teams:
Team Argos - Shimano (ARG), Netherlands. Rode in 2009 TDF with Skil as a sponsor.
Cofidis le Credit en Ligne (COF), France.
Saur - SoJaSun (SAU), France.
Team Europcar (EUC), France. An old team with new life and a new name in 2011.

More team notes in next post.

Jeff Louder of BMC nearing the finish for his victory in Stage 4 (Park City Criterium), Tour of Utah 2010.  Notice the rider's number on uniform and on bike.  Third team (20's), rider no. 3.