Missing Saddle has taken it upon ourselves to provide to all the Pro Cycling fans our take on the teams of the Tour de France.

Liquigas
Written by Jaime Naragon
Team Liquigas is an Italian team, created in 1999 as a continental team. After combining with Team Bianchi in 2005, however, the team met with better success and was able to become a Pro Tour team. The title sponsor is a supplier of liquefied gas products. After Beltran’s EPO positive in the Tour last year, and the controversial signing of then-banned rider Ivan Basso last summer, the team will be out to once again grab headlines—this time for good reasons!

Roster
Daniele Bennati, Roman Kreuziger, Aleksandr Kuschynski, Franco Pellizotti, Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Sabatini, Brian Vandborg, Alessandro Vanotti, and Frederik Willems.

Jersey Contenders
After finishing a strong third in the Giro d’Italia this past May, Pellizotti has made it clear that he feels he can place well in the Tour. Just how well, however, is debatable. Had he not performed as well in the Giro, he may have been able to slip under the radar a bit more in France. Now, he will be a marked-man. That being said, in-fighting among other teams and GC men may still let this “underdog GC” rider slip onto the podium.

Bennati will mix it up in the sprints. Though his start of the season this year has been quieter than last, there is no doubt that he will still play a factor.

Kreuziger and Nibali have both had successful first-halves to their seasons and both are serious white jersey contenders.

Drama
Not really much of any. They’ve been earning wins quietly all season. Some people may be surprised that Basso’s not riding the Tour, but he announced earlier in the season he was going to focus on the Vuelta instead.

Most Likely to Happen
A stage win for the team certainly seems plausible. The two young white jersey candidates will give a certain Luxembourger a run for his money! Pellizotti will be in the top-10, but he probably won’t be on the podium.

Ice Cream Flavour
Definitely Baskin Robbin’s Rock and Pop Swirl. First of all, you have to see a picture of this ice cream. It’s totally modelled after the lime-green and blue jerseys of the Italian team. But, this ice cream is also a good selection for Liquigas because, like the team, it has the potential to be over-looked and still pack a punch!

BBox Bouygues Telecom
Written by Kyle Moore
Aggressive French riders have become the staple of Bouygues Telecom, the large young team sponsored by the French mobile phone company. The team traces its roots back to 1984, when it was called System U, and it took its present sponsor in 2005. This team never enters the Tour with thoughts of glory in yellow, but breakaway animation, early polka dot jerseys, and courageous solo flyers are most common with Bbox Bouygues. 23 of 27 riders on the team are French, and most are under 30 years of age.

Roster
Yukiya Arashiro, William Bonnet, Pierrick Fedrigo, Saïd Haddou, Laurent Lefevre, Alexandre Pichot, Pierre Rolland, Yury Trofimov, Thomas Voeckler

Team Leaders
Voeckler is the sentimental favorite leader of Bbox, after spending 10 days in yellow for the team back in 2004. But they know they should expect the most success from Fedrigo and Trofimov, so duel leadership will probably be shared by this Frenchman and Russian, respectively. Fedrigo had a great spring but a disappointing French championships, so it will be interesting to see where his confidence is when the Tour begins. People have been talking up 25-year-old Trofimov all season, and he will look use decent climbing and possibly a solo breakaway to establish a decent position overall.

Pre-Tour Buzz
Arashiro is one of two Japanese riders in the peloton this year. Fedrigo won stage 6 of the Dauphine Libere, and Trofimov had a near miss in stage 3.

Predictions
You can bet your bottom dollar you’ll see Tommy Voeckler on TV. You gotta love the guy. He’s courageous, tough, and he’s got a nose for the French cameras. Bbox has at least six guys with the talent and form to win a stage out of a break, but unfortunately for them, so do about 10 other teams. But what the hell! Let’s set the scene: It’s stage 7, the first mountain stage. It’s too early to attack, so the favorites just mark each other. Russian Yury Trofimov attacks on the descent of the Port del Comte and stays away, soloing up the HC climb to Andorre Arcalis where a sweet victory and the Maillot Jaune await. Hello big contract with Katusha!

If Bouygues Telecom were Ice Cream
They would be coffee. It is what it is. You can’t change it and you don’t spice it up with anything. Bouyges Telecom knows what it is, and they seem content. They raise mainly French riders to animate the race, look for breakaways and the occasional win. Not everyone enjoys the flavor, and it’s favored mostly by purists, and not so much by the young, hip crowd.

Française des Jeux
Written by Kyle Moore
Sponsored by the French national lottery since 1997, Française des Jeux is back for another Tour as a representative of the home country. General manager is Marc Madiot, a former winner of Paris-Roubaix. All but five of the 22 riders on the team are French, and FdJ has had mixed success over the years. The 2003 Tour would be widely considered their best, when Bradley McGee won the prologue and spent several days in yellow, and Baden Cooke won the green jersey.

Roster
Sandy Casar, Jerome Coppel, Anthony Geslin, Yauheni Hutarovich, Sebastien Joly, Christophe Le Mevel, Jeremy Roy, Benoît Vaugrenard, Jussi Veikkanen

Team Leaders
Sandy Casar will get the leader’s bib number, and he wore it well last year. He didn’t win a stage, as he did in 2007, but he quietly took 14th place overall, just under 20 minutes back of Carlos Sastre. Casar has been one of the most successful French riders of the last few years, but he doesn’t receive as much attention as someone like Thomas Voeckler, for whatever reason. Le Mevel will also look to place well overall, and Geslin is a decent sprinter.

Pre-Tour Buzz
Never a team that creates a lot of news, the most buzz surrounding FdJ is regarding who they aren’t taking to the Tour. Sprinter Sebestian Chavanel is being left at home, as is budding climber Remy di Gregorio. Citing too much inconsistency from both so far in 2009, the team decided to go with Roy and Tour rookie Coppel, a very solid time trialist.

Predictions
Don’t expect much success from FdJ this year. If a win happens, it is likely to be either Casar or Le Mevel out of a breakaway on a mountain stage. But other teams appear more ready for that kind of victory. Casar will quietly climb all the important mountains in the second group, and a solid top 20 on GC will be the result yet again.

If Française des Jeux were Ice Cream
They would be mint-chocolate chip. It’s available everywhere, and it almost always tastes the same. It’s a decent, consistent taste that is difficult for a brand to screw up, but it’s not exactly a powerhouse flavor.

AG2R – La Mondiale
Written by Kyle Moore
In terms of rider nationality, they are a bit more diverse, and perhaps that is why AG2R is considered by many to be the best French team. This year’s roster includes a Russian, a Spaniard, an Irishman, and an Italian, along with five Frenchmen. The team has been racing under the AG2R name since 2000. AG2R and La Mondiale are both groups that specialize in insurance and retirement funds. Vincent Lavenu is the team’s general manager, and he founded the team, then called Chazal, immediately after his retirement as a rider in 1992.

Roster
Jose Luis Arrieta, Cyril Dessel, Hubert Dupont, Vladimir Efimkin, Stephane Goubert, Lloyd Mondory, Rinaldo Nocentini, Christophe Riblon, Nicolas Roche

Team Leaders
Dessel is a favorite of the French fans, and he will look to duplicate his effort from last year, when he won Stage 16 to Jausiers out of a breakaway. But Dessel finished 28th overall a year ago, so AG2R’s GC hopes should lie solely with Efimkin. The Russian was 11th last season, just behind the team’s other main man, Tadej Valjavec who is not in the race this year. Efimkin was visible on the primary climbs of the Dauphine Libere, so he looks to be rounding into form for the Tour. But the team also has plenty of firepower available for other stage victories. Roche, Nocentini, and Arrieta will look for glory out of a breakaway.

Pre-Tour Buzz
Their uniforms will be different, and proud new papa Valjavec is being saved for Spain, but there isn’t much buzz with AG2R. A little trivia: Other than CSC-Saxo Bank, what was the only other team with three riders in the lead group on the road heading up Alpe d’Huez? Well of course it was these guys – this is the AG2R profile after all – but the point is that these guys can pack a punch without creating any buzz. You probably won’t see any pack riding in the mountains from them this year, but expect some more quiet success as the Tour wears on.

Predictions
They took two stages last year – Dessel’s, and Efimkin won one as a result of Ricardo Ricco’s disqualification. That’s not too much to expect this year. Efimkin may try to establish himself in the early mountain stages. Look for him to finish in the top 10 overall and be a leading candidate for polka dots. And between Mondory, Nocentini, and Roche, someone will win a stage.

If AG2R were Ice Cream
They would be chocolate. Put this on the menu with the other French team ice creams (mint-chocolate chip, coffee, strawberry), and it doesn’t overpower them, but it’s chosen the most. You can dress it up with all sorts of goodies, but it’s usually pretty satisfying right out of the carton.

Special thanks to Chaos Cycling Club for providing their own special brand of pro cycling insight!