Log Jam: With New Powerhouse Cycling Teams On Tap for 2010, Saxo Bank and Others Struggle to Stay On Top

2010 will see a big influx of new cycling teams, as Sky, Radioshack and BMC all plan on honing in on the highest level of the sport. Behind strong management, each of the above mentioned teams will be looking to perform among the top teams in the world, which will leave some of those more familiar Pro Tour powerhouses scrapping to maintian their dominance on the cycling scene.

More than any established team, Bjarn Riis' Saxo Bank squad will have their hands full in trying to stay at the top of the sport in 2010. Riis, always a tactician, will certainly put his athletes in position to win, but whetehr Saxo will be able to maintain against the new giants of cycling remains to be seen.

Riis has some very strong riders that he will count on for big results in 2010. The brothers Schleck will once gain fly the flag for the Saxo team at the Tour de France and hilly classics, while Fabian Cancellara, the undisputed king of the time trial, will hope for strong individual results in the cobbled-classics dring the spring. This three-headed monster should wreak havoc on the peloton in 2010 as they did in 2009, but after that things get very murky for the Saxo team.

Jens Voigt, one of the oldest riders in pro cycling, will hope for another good year after returing from a horrible crash at last year's Tour de France. Voigt will be looking to once again win the Criterium International, which would be a highlight to his season. Jakob Fuglsang, young and hungry, will hope to continue to grow with strong results at smaller stage races, while team sprinter Juan Jose Haedo will hope to regain the winning form that has deserted him over the past few seasons.

Bjarne Riis is not a man easily discouraged, and the Dane will work tirelessly to make sure his team is as best prepared as possible for 2010. But the stark reality is that there are new big fish in the pond, and the Saxo team is not as intimidating as it used to be. More than ever, each win by Saxo in 2010 will be earned, not given, as the new cycling landscape takes shape.