Gerolsteiner, T-Mobile for Catalunya

Levi Leipheimer is looking to win the Volta a Catalunya, which starts on Sunday. "When Levi is in good form, which I assume he is, then he is a man for a top overall placement," says Gerolsteiner's directeur sportif Reimund Dietzen. "You only win here if you are a good time trialist and also come over the mountains well" - a description that fits Leipheimer, the team believes. He has been training in his home in the USA and has now returned to Europe for his final preparations for the Tour de France. In Spain he will be accompanied by four other riders who are in the preliminary Tour squad.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, is sending only one potential Tour rider and is looking for stage wins. The team will be led by climber and Tour candidate Giuseppe Guerini. He will be accompanied by four young riders who have never ridden in Catalunya, including sprinter Andre Greipel, who "is our man" for the expected sprint finish in stage three, according to directeur sportif Frans van Looy.