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It’s not every day a country’s president attends a team presentation, but that’s exactly what happened in Russia with the creation of Katusha. The squad will be forged from an existing Russian continental team and a merger with Tinkoff Credit Systems, started by Russian entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov in 2005. A few Russian companies and politicians are backing the team, including oil and gas firm Itera. “Finally, Russian cycling has stepped into the professional realm,” said Itera president Igori Makarov. “We have waited a long time for this moment, and it was necessary to overcome a lot of barriers, problems and resistance on the way.”

In 2007 Vladimir Karpets won Catalunya and Tour de Suisse, and has potential for a grand tour podium, evidenced by his eighth place at the 2006 Vuelta. Robbie McEwen, who left Silence-Lotto to join the squad, has more sprint wins than any other active rider. Filippo Pozzato just missed the win at Milan-San Remo in 2008 and came sixth at the Tour of Flanders; he also won a Tour de France stage in 2007. And Laszlo Bodrogi can turn the pedals, as evidenced by his silver medal at the world time trial championship in 2007