Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Those Bike Team Names – 2010 Version – Part I

06.29.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

Hey, the Tour de France is just around the corner! It starts Sunday Saturday. Each year, I like to introduce Bike Noob readers to the teams in the Tour, because their European corporate sponsor names are probably unfamiliar to most Americans. This year is interesting, because of several new teams in the Tour, and four U.S.-based teams. Lance Armstrong rides in his last Tour, and just might contend.

Twenty-two teams are riding this year. Today, we’ll profile half of them, by alphabetical order. The remaining teams will go up Thursday.

AG2R-La Mondiale: France. Ag2r Group is a French-based interprofessional insurance and supplementary retirement fund group, and the La Mondiale Group is a French-based international group for supplementary pension and estate planning insurance. Rinaldo Nocentini led last year’s Tour for eight days.

Top riders: Dimitri Champion, Nocentini, Nicolas Roche.

Bike: Kuota

Astana: Kazakhstan. Sponsored by the Astana group, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan and named after its capital city Astana. Last year, the team had trouble making its payroll, until the Kazakh government stepped in. The Tour’s defending champion, Alberto Contador, rides for Astana, but half last year’s team bolted for the new Radio Shack squad.

Top riders: Contador, Alexander Vinokourov.

Bike: Specialized

Bbox Bouyges Telecom: France. Bouygues is a mobile telephone company. Bbox is the bundled Internet, TV, and telephone package offered to Bouygues customers. Last year, Thomas Voeckler and Pierrick Fédrigo won stages of the Tour.

Top riders: Voeckler, Fédrigo, Pierre Rolland.

Bike: Colnago

BMC Racing Team: USA. BMC is a Swiss bike company. The team is brand new, having competed in some domestic races last year, but won a wild card berth to the TdF this year. They’ve made their presence known in some of the earlier races this season, and have a strong stable of riders.

Top riders: US Champion George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan, World Champion Cadel Evans.

Bike: BMC

Caisse d’Epargne: Spain. The team is registered to Spain, but the sponsor is the fourth-largest French banking company. Their top rider, Alejandro Valverde, is suspended for ties to doping. Still, Caisse is always one of the strongest teams in the Tour.

Top riders: Luis Leon Sanchez, Juan Mauricio Soler, Juan Jose Cobo.

Bike: Pinarello.

Cervelo Test Team: Switzerland. Cervelo is the Canadian bike company. The team made quite an impact last year, when it debuted in the tour.

Top riders: Carlos Sastre (2008 TdF winner), Thor Hushovd.

Bike: Cervelo

Cofidis: France. Consumer Credit. Le Credit En Ligne (online). Offers customized consumer loans either by phone or over the Internet. The company had planned this to be its last year, but now will be around through 2012. They are probably the weakest of the French teams.

Top riders: David Moncoutie, Samuel Dumoulin, Amaël Moinard.

Bike: Look.

Euskaltel-Euskadi: Basque. Basque telephone company. Euskadi is the Basque word for Basque. The Basque Country is an autonomous region in the north of Spain. Basques are ethnically different from Spaniards, and there’s been some separation sentiment for years. Euskaltel is the unofficial national team of the Basques. The team is known for its strong mountain riding. Team leader Mikel Astarloza is under a two-year doping suspension.

Top riders: Samuel Sanchez, Amets Txurruka, Egoi Martinez.

Bike: Orbea.

Footon-Servetto: Spain. Footon makes insoles to correct bad posture.  Servetto is an Italian wardrobe company. The team was formerly Saunier-Duval, which got caught up in a doping scandal. They claim the jersey is gold – most observers regard it as nude.

Top riders: Martin Pedersen, Michele Merlo and Manuel Cardoso.

Bike: Fuji

Francaise de Jeux: France. The French national lottery. This team has been around since 1997. The team had a good year in 2009, but couldn’t win the big one, and are under some pressure to win their own country’s big race.

Top riders: Christophe Le Mevel, Sandy Casar, Thibault Pinot.

Bike: Lapierre.

Garmin-Transitions: USA. Garmin is the top maker of GPS gear, Transitions makes eyeglasses that shade with the sun. The team won 29 races last year.

Top riders: Tyler Farrar, Christian VandeVelde, Robbie Hunter.

Bike: Felt

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Categories // Racing Tags // Racing

Comments

  1. mildstallion says

    June 29, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    The Tour starts on Saturday. What a noob.

    Reply
    • rainycamp says

      June 29, 2010 at 10:06 pm

      Right. I knew that. Saturday. That’s July 3rd.

      Reply
  2. Tim says

    June 30, 2010 at 5:10 am

    Ah, the world cup of cycling. I wonder why more countries don’t sponsor teams. Are professional cyclists that mercenary?

    Great post. Can’t wait for SATURDAY.

    Reply
  3. T Foster says

    June 30, 2010 at 8:16 am

    Great idea. Thanks.

    Reply
  4. Nhan Nguyen says

    June 30, 2010 at 11:58 am

    Thanks for the team roundup! I look forward to reading more of your TdF posts.

    Reply
  5. Don says

    June 30, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    Fyi: Oscar Pereiro was left off of Astana’s 2010 TdF team.

    Reply
  6. Sine Botchen says

    June 30, 2010 at 2:22 pm

    The first time I saw a “footon” rider I did think he was partially naked.. got to be the most “butt ugly” kit I’ve ever seen.

    Reply
  7. Joe says

    July 12, 2010 at 3:29 am

    Hi,

    Good post! A couple of comments thought. Saying Basques are “ethnically” different from Spanish is a bit of a joke. What do you mean by that? Are they oriental looking? or do they have a sixth finger?

    Also, saying Euskatel is the “unofficial” national team of the Basque Country is another big joke, when they have riders from all around Spain, and their team leader for the Tour (Samuel Sanchez) is from Asturias, another region in the north.

    I wonder about the consistency of your listing when you mention the procedence of the teams. Is Euskatel a Spanish team or not? If you mention regions, say that Caisse D’Epargne comes from the Balearic Islands, Cofidis comes from Lyon, etc. Otherwise, your listing is not consistent if you mix regions with countries.

    Reply
    • miquel says

      September 4, 2012 at 6:46 pm

      The basque people are as spanish as the Cherokee are Americans.

      Reply
  8. Dermatology traffic says

    August 19, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    After you and your doctor have realized what is the the source and the nature of this problem, the dermatologist will find
    it easier to prescribe to you a drug that is fit for
    your condition from inside and outside. Another method, Cool Touch technology, can be used for treating everything
    from acne scars to liver spots, while therapies like Relume can largely if not entirely reduce
    the appearance of stretch marks. Tinea is another common fungal infection in the skin, and this often manifests as what
    is known as ringworm.

    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 257 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d