2020 SEASON PREVIEW
AG2R LA MONDIALE
France
Riders: 28
Under 26: 9
Over 35: 1
Key stat: Only three of the team’s 14 wins came from outside France last year.
No longer the chief darling of the French following a floundering performance at the Tour while compatriots Thibaut Pinot and Julian Alaphilippe starred, Romain Bardet will this year skip the Tour altogether in order to make his debut at the Giro — a race that, if he can recapture his form of a few years ago, he could very well make his first ever Grand Tour overall win.
That gives younger riders like Pierre Latour a chance to step up in the race that remains the team’s most important, while Oliver Naesen might finally land the major Classic he’s long promised.
ASTANA
Kazakhstan
Riders: 28
Under 26: 10
Over 35: 1
Key stat: Last year Astana had won 25 races before May, a total bettered only by Deceuninck-Quick Step.
When the Kazakh government founded Team Astana in 2007, it was presumably to exorcise Borat-related stereotypes and build an association between their national identity and sporting prowess — not cultivate the kind of villainous image that doping scandals and controversies have wrought.
Several years without a doping positive and a prolific run of victories in 2019 (including Jakob Fuglsang at the Dauphiné and Liège) has kept them in the headlines for the right reasons recently, although the departure of riders like Pello Bilbao and Magnus Cort Nielsen does moderate the strength in depth last year’s success was built on.
BAHRAIN-MCLAREN
Bahrain
No of riders: 29
Under 26: 10
Over 35: 1
Key stat: Bahrain is a truly international team, with 13 different nations spread over 26 riders.
How was the off-season?
A lot changed, with a big British sponsor coming on board in place of Merida, which is retained as bike supplier. With the arrival of McLaren came new management, with new team principal Rod Ellingworth, performance director Roger Hammond, and McLaren brain Duncan Bradley taking on a technical director role.
Biggest challenge in 2020
The team calls its change from Bahrain-Merida to Bahrain-McLaren a “bold new chapter”, and you can’t create a bold new chapter without setting yourself up for a challenge. As well as one of their most successful riders, Vincenzo Nibali, jumping ship to Trek-Segafredo, the arrival of McLaren means structural changes.
With Wout Poels and Mikel Landa now on board, they mightn’t miss Nibali too much, and generally these seem like positive changes that should inject new life into the team. But with such things come
