With the Tour Down Under less than a fortnight away, the new WorldTour season is almost upon us.
Last season provided plenty of thrills and spills, with three sensational Grand Tours, Fabian Cancellara’s sublime form in the cobbled classics and Joaquim Rodriguez soloing to Giro di Lombardia victory to top the world rankings.
In the team rankings, Chris Froome’s Tour de France win – and the Criterium du Dauphine victory which preceded it – was not enough to grant Team Sky top spot as they were pipped at the post by Movistar, thanks to Benat Intxausti’s Tour of Beijing win.
But what will 2014 hold? The 18 teams granted licences to compete at the highest level of pro cycling have been confirmed by the UCI.
Over the next few days we will be taking a look at each team’s prospects for the year ahead and the riders to look out for starting with the six on the following pages.
