Katusha's Tour team took a major hit earlier this month when team leader Kim Kirchen left due to heart problems. He has not made much of a recovery since, and had to be excluded from the Tour team. This left the Russian squad without an established team leader. This does not mean that they will not make noise in other aspects of the tour.
Sprinter Robbie McEwen will embark on his 11th career Tour de France. He is getting up there in age, so this year may be one of his last legitimate chances to score a victory or two on the world's biggest stage. He certainly has the experience, with a dozen TDF stages to his credit, and many more stages started. As for the actual GC leader for Katusha, I will give that determination to a pair of riders.
Vladmir Karpets is having a decent year thus far, scoring a top 15 in this year's Giro. He also has some good experience riding the tour, taking home the best young rider jersey in 2004. He is big and powerful, and could get himself a top 20 this year. The other rider who can give Katusha a good race is Sergei Ivanov.
Ivanov rides a very conservative race, and is very good at choosing the moments he attacks. He has the capabilities to give Katusha a top 25, or at the very least, contend for a stage win or 2. The rest of the Katusha squad is a mix of balanced team riders and decent climbers as well.
Full Roster:
Sergei Ivanov
Vladmir Karpets
Robbie McEwen
Joaquim Rodriguez
Pavel Brutt
Stijn Vandenbergh
Eduard Vorganov
Alexandr Pliuschin
Alexander Kolobnev
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