Cycling team

A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races of any kind, whether they are recreational or professional. Cycling teams are most important in road bicycle racing, which is a team-sport, but in track cycling and cyclo-cross, collaboration between teammembers is also important. The following focuses on road cycling.

Like in other team-sports, different team members will have different specializations. There are climbing specialists who grind away on the hard inclines, sprinters who save their energy for crucial sprints for points and position, time trialists who work with great efficiency to keep speed high over great distances, and domestiques who guard the team from aggressive riders and assist in ensuring the team stays properly hydrated and fed.

Successful teams are oriented towards the goals of a leader (such as Lance Armstrong or Jan Ullrich) who must combine all those skills and be able to act as the "face of the team" to the media and other teams. The group leaders are called allrounders, and these ride for the general classification. Not all teams have a leader, though. Most professional teams keep between 10–20 riders at any given time. Teams will also usually have a director, coaches, mechanics, and other clingers-on.

Teams are generally sponsored by companies in exchange for advertising in the form of the team name, prominent placement of logos on official jerseys, and other endorsements. Sponsorships range from small "mom-and-pop" businesses contributing largely in the name of good fun to local teams, to multimillion-dollar deals funding the latest in cycling technology in exchange for television and other advertisements. The need for sponsor recognition is part of what drives teams to burn themselves out early to gain a temporary lead in multistage races as opposed to giving a long, balanced effort and never finishing highly enough for the sponsor's investment to pay off from a marketing standpoint.

Some prominent road cycling teams

• Brioches la Boulangère
• Cofidis
• Euskaltel
• Fassa Bortolo
• Fdjeux.com
• Liberty Seguros
• Phonak Hearing Services
• T-Mobile
• US Postal Service-Berry Floor, now Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team