2022 SEASON PREVIEW
MEN’S WORLDTEAMS
AG2R CITROËN TEAM
Country: France
Riders: 29
Under-26: 13
Over-35: 3
Key stat: The team has placed a rider in the top four in four out of the last eight Tour de France editions
Perhaps suffering buyer’s remorse following the underwhelming returns of Greg Van Avermaet and Bob Jungels, Ag2r have kept transfer activity to a minimum this season. Pressure will therefore be on their posse of talented young French climbers and puncheurs to step up, with Benoît Cosnefroy, Clément Champoussin and Aurélien Paret-Peintre all now in their mid-twenties and ripe to fulfil the potential they’ve promised. Ben O’Connor last year brought back memories of the Romain Bardet era, but a repeat of his fourth place at the Tour is a huge ask – instead, stage wins and hilly Classics are where the team could excel.
ASTANA QAZAQSTAN
Country: Kazakhstan
Riders: 29
Under-26: 11
Over-35: 3
Key stat: Riders responsible for nine of their 13 wins last year have now left
The Kazakh state’s violent suppression of protesters this year casts a dark shadow over the team it bankrolls, which has itself been destabilised following a prolonged internal power struggle from which the inextinguishable Alexandre Vinokorouv just about managed to cling on as general manager, and a mass exodus that saw Aleksandr Vlasov, Jakob Fuglsang and the Izagirre brothers all depart. Filling the void by re-signing former stars Vincenzo Nibali (past his best at 37) and Miguel Ángel López (as erratic as ever) feels like a step backwards rather than forwards, while the recruitment of bad boy Gianni Moscon is unlikely to help detoxify their brand.
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS
Country: Bahrain
Riders: 28
Under-26: 10
Over-35: 3
Key stat: Their 30 wins in 2021 came from 11 different riders
How we laughed when the Bahrainfunded team added ‘Victorious’ to their name last year, but they lived up to that brazen self-aggrandisement by amassing 30 wins. Their success was mostly built upon improving riders rather than buying new ones, and they’ve managed to retain all (bar Mark Padun) of their appreciating assets for the 2022 season. Though it’s unlikely that Paris-Roubaix winner Sonny Colbrelli and Giro podium placer Damiano Caruso will fly so high again, the relative youth of Classics star Matej Mohorič and Grand Tour contenders Gino Mäder and Jack Haig means they could be even better in 2022.
BIKEEXCHANGE-JAYCO
Country: Australia
Riders: 29
Under-26: 11
Over-35: 1
Key stat: Last season’s total of nine wins was the lowest in the team’s 10-year history
In response to the alarming rate at which their victories have plummeted from an impressive 34 in 2019 to 16 in 2020 and to just nine in 2021, BikeExchange-Jayco have taken a chance on Dylan Groenewegen. If the former Jumbo-Visma sprinter can return to full fitness then he should be a prolific winner for the team, and would also take some pressure off Michael Matthews, who these days prefers to target Classics instead of sprints. The departure of climbers Esteban Chaves and Mikel Nieve signals a diminishing interest in Grand Tours, but Simon Yates could still win the
