Russia’s Team Katusha has finalized its roster for 2010 with 29 riders, one shy of the UCI team limit. The strongest additions include the Luxembourger Kim Kirchen from Team Columbia-HTC and the Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez from Caisse d'Epargne. Both riders have confirmed their presence in the spring Ardennes classics, with Rodriquez taking second in this year's Liege-Bastogne-Liege. They will be joining Amstel Gold Race winner Serguei Ivanov to form an even more dangerous trio.
The six other newcomers include four Russians, Timofei Kritsky (Katusha Continental), Artem Ovechkim (Trainee), Egor Silin (Elite-2), Eduard Vorganov (Xacobeo-Galicia). The two other new faces are Italy’s Marco Bandiera (Lampre) and the Moldavian Alexandre Pliuschin (Ag2r).
Five riders are not returning, including Antonio Colom and Christian Pfannberger who both tested positive for the banned substance Cera. Belgium’s Gert Steegmans is headed for Armstrong’s Team RadioShack after a disagreement with the team concerning a clause in his contract that would force him to pay five years worth of his salary if he tested positive. Steegmans found it unfair and terminated his contract with the Russian team. Also joining Steegmans at the new American team is Russian Ivan Rovny.
Existing Riders:
Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra)
Alexander Botcharov (Rus)
Pavel Brutt (Rus)
Nikita Eskov (Rus)
Denis Galimzyanov (Rus)
Joan Horrach (Spa)
Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus)
Serguei Ivanov (Rus)
Vladimir Karpets (Rus)
Serguei Klimov (Rus)
Alexei Markov (Rus)
Luca Mazzanti (Ita)
Robbie McEwen (Aus)
Danilo Napolitano (Ita)
Evgeni Petrov (Rus)
Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
Alexander Serov (Rus)
Ben Swift (GBr)
Nikolai Trussov (Rus)
Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel)
Maxime Vantomme (Bel)
New Recruits:
Marco Bandiera (Lampre)
Kim Kirchen (Team-Columbia)
Timofei Kritsky (Katusha Continental)
Artem Ovechkim (Stagiair Katusha)
Alexandre Pliuschin (AG2R)
Egor Silin (Elite-2)
Joaquin Rodríguez (Caisse d'Epargne)
Eduard Vorganov (Xacobeo-Galicia)
No longer with the team:
Antonio Colom (Spa) - Suspended
Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) - Stopping
Christian Pfannberger (Oos) - Suspended
Ivan Rovny (Rus) - Team RadioShack
Gert Steegmans (Bel) - Team RadioShack