Garmin-Transitions brings a whole squad of riders that could grab them a whole bunch of stages. They do have a few geared towards the overall goal, but I believe the majority of their success will come on individual wins. The man that can give them the best chance for the high overall finish is Christian Vandevelde.
Vandevelde has gotten off to a rough start this year, and didn't appear to be riding well earlier in the season. He believes he is seeing improvement in his more recent practice rides, and thinks he is ready to lead his Garmin-Transitions team to a high finish. I think Garmin-Transitions may have more noticable success in the pedals of a pair of top time-trialists.
David Millar and David Zabriskie can both make a strong case among the top 5 time trialists in the world. If either of the top 2 (Martin or Cancellara) falters, they should be right within striking distance for the stage. Another man that could get Garmin-Transitions a stage win is Ryder Hesjedal.
Hesjedal is a rising star on the international circuit and could easily be a team leader in a year or two. For now, he is content to protect Vandevelde while attempting to break away for a stage win like he did in the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California. While Hesjedal will likely give the team a solid but predictable performance, nobody knows what to expect from Tyler Farrar.
Farrar is said to have speed faster than even Mark Cavendish, but he has been unable to summon it thus far in the world's biggest race. He has been steadily improving the last two seasons, taking 2 stages in this year's Giro and looking better than ever. If he could put his nerves behind and effective put the help of his teammates to good use, he could end up with multiple stage victories this year.
Full Roster:
Christian Vandevelde
Ryder Hesjedal
Tyler Farrar
David Millar
David Zabriskie
Robbie Hunter
Johan Van Summeren
Martijn Maaskant
Julian Dean
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