While RadioShack might not have a name of the caliber of Lance Armstrong to supply to its European campaign in 2011, it isn't looking too shabby. Certainly, its squad for the early season Spanish stage race, the Vuelta Andalucia, looks quite powerful.
Johan Bruyneel's RadioShack team will field three big overall classification threats in Levi Leipheimer, Haimar Zubeldia, and Janez Brajkovic.
The race, also known as the Ruta del Sol, will be held from the 20-24 of February and will see the season start for Leipheimer, who at 37, will be starting his fourteenth season as a professional. The consistent stage race contender will have every chance to race for himself in 2011, and the success could come as early as the end of February if things go as they traditionally do for the resident of California. While the Ruta del Sol is no comparison for the Tour of California, which was previously held in February and was the eminent domain of Leipheimer, the Montana native has a penchant for hot starts to the season and the difficult parcours of the Ruta del Sol would seem to fit him perfectly.
In 2010, Michael Rogers triumphed over Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Sergio Pardilla, Jens Voigt, and Bauke Mollema to get rolling on what would be one of his more successful half seasons ever. Rogers would not be able to maintain his dominance past the Tour of California, but the year was nonetheless an excellent one for the HTC-Columbia rider, who will race for Team Sky in 2011.
Europapress.es notes that the RadioShack squad for the Ruta del Sol will be highlighted by its international flavor - each of the six riders hails from a different country than his teammates: Levi Leipheimer (USA), Haimar Zubeldia (Spain), Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia), Geoffroy Lequatre (France), Ivan Rovny (Russia), Dimitry Muravyev (Kazakhstan).