Written by Simon de Montfort of AnnoDomini
  
   Team Seidel
  
  First team to sign up was Team Seidel. They arrive to the tour with Tarjei Thorvaldsen, solid cobbler in his prime age, and 5 strong pave pacers. Thorvaldsen finishes well in odd editions of this tour - in edition #25 he was 4th and in #27 he was 3rd. So time for another good finish in edition #29.
  
   AnnoDomini
  
  Polish team has Julian Cichocki as their captain, winner of young rider classification from last year. His form is however not that great this time and with only 2 pave pacers he lacks solid support so dont expect too much from him.
  
   YCO
  
  Latvian national champion Artis Rudulis will be the leader of YCO, but he has the same issue as Julian Cichocki - only 2 pave pacers means Artis will be on his own most of the time and with a such strong competition it will be hard for him to get into top 10.
  
   Ekaitz Team
  
  2 time winner Timo Canseco will be present at the tour with his 5 Spanish amigos - all very strong cobblers. The final GC placing is trending low for him in the last editions (1-1-4-8-11) but he should be able to bring it up a little bit with a top 9 placing this season.
  
   Opium Fueled
  
  Jean-Pierre van Bockorst has everything needed to win this tour - good technigue, decent TT skills and a very long name which corresponds well to the tour name itself. With 3 pave pacers he may lack a bit of support at times, but maybe he proves strong enough and will not need it? For sure the YC is up for grabs for him.
  
   Indie Rock
  
  Andrea Camata, the well known Italian cobbler, is also here. He will want to win a stage rather than the whole tour as he lacks time trialing skills. In fact, it is quite possible he will aim at finishing 9th - as he did in 3 editions so far.
  
   Gabbo e bacardi
  
  The top Italian team is not fully cobble-oriented and will try their luck in the TvA for the first time. Lazaro Gamao will be their captain but without any time trialing skills and small support he will be hoping for a stage result and off days for the main favorites, not for GC.
  
   Movistar Kelme Team
  
  7 seasons ago Orest Czechowski won the Young Riders jersey in this tour, but now he is 32yo already and his best days are behind him. He has however

great supporting riders in his team and he will try to get a result during one of the stages.
  
   VO2maXXers
  
  Top German team joins the tour in hope for a bunch sprint finish on each of the stages. This is very unlikely to happen, but if it does then they are ready to send their sprinter Femi Tshiela to fight for the stage glory.
  
   1 2 Cycle
  
  3rd Polish cobbler on the starting line is Blazej Urbanek - he was 3rd and 6th in the last two editions so everyone expects him to do well also this time, especially that he is in the peak age. He has great sprinting lead outs for final stage and good pave pacers, but only two - will it be enough?
  
   Old town racing club
  
  6 Scotsmen walk into a pub in Antwerpen and one of them says: I am Norrie Roughhead and I am here to win a stage. The bartender looks at him and says: Glad to have you here Norrie, but you are 32yo and you only have one pave pacer to help you. So You better sit down here, have a beer and watch the tour on TV!
  
   Logoloos
  
  Dutch team is here only to win the prologue and has 3 time trialers to try that. Getting all 3 in the top 9 would be a dream come true but this will be hard as there is around 20 very good TTers on the starting list.
  
   Rouches
  
  Belgian team Rouches brings Garth Yocum to the tour and provide some great support for him. He is in his prime age and is very motivated to finish at least 6th, like he did in S37, and we have to admit this is quite probable.
  
   Jonas Pro Cycling
  
  The best Danish team arrives to Belgium with 4 TTers focused on the prologue and with Gale Reason, a cobble veteran aged 34, who will want to improve on his record and finish in top 9 for the 8th time (!) in a row in this tour. I am sure he will have many fans along the course cheering for him. Good luck Gale!
  
   Il Grillo
  
  Known for its Youth Academy team Il Grillo shows up in Belgium with a fully Dutch squad, led by Aron Bogarde. He is a good sprinting cobbler who finished 5th in edition #27. His teammates however will probably not be able to help him much so he will need to ride on his own for the most of the time.
  
   Nairobi City Cycling Club
  
  Kenyan team sends 5 sprinters and one TTer to the tour. With this lineup their plan is a

bit of unknown - will they hope for bunch sprint finish in one of the stages? Or will they want to try some luck in a breakaway? Our reporters didnt manage to talk to Methode so this riddle will have to stay unresolved for now.
  
   Bywater CT
  
  On the contrary to Kenyan guys, Polish Nr 1 team has a clear plan for the tour - Eloi Bourdon is supposed to get a result in the prologue while later it will be all about Kadir Goncalves, He showed in Haute-Normandie that he can win tours, so he will needs to be considered as one of the favorites in TvA as well, especially with such strong team behind him.
  
   Team Monster Racing
  
  Delrico Garate is a fairly unknown cobbler with only one result in his palmares. This toulr will definitely be an interesting experience for him and his colleagues, but unfortunately he should not have high expectation as it comes to the results.
  
   NECFTW
  
  Similarly to Logoloos and Jonas Pro Cycling, NECFTW is filled with TTers and will focus only on the prologue. Anything less than 3 riders in the top 10 on that first stage will be regarded as a failure.
  
   Comfius
  
  Mr Legend is here to defend his title from last 2 editions. Several riders have won this tour 2 times in a row, but nobody has won 3 times in a row so far. That's what Lucas Loudon hopes for and we must admit he has everything he needs to succeed. Only bad luck can ruin his masterplan.
  
   Team Majones
  
  One more TT-oriented team who has 6 time trialers haunting for the prologue win. It seems that during this edition the fight for the prologue win will be more intense than the fight for any other classification in this tour!
  
   Cloud Atlas
  
  Best Colombian team arrives with Jacinto Cresaco and his five South-American compatriots. Jacinto is a very good cobbler and a top9 result seems to be guaranteed, but with no support it is doubtful that he can achieve sometihng really big.
  
   Hells Grannies and Indurain Team
  
  Two more teams that raised a few eyebrows among the fellow managers as they bring sprinting squads on a cobble tour. I am sure race organizers are glad that such great sprinters as Robert Mjelde and Florian Akos show up on their tour and the fans love it as well, so nobody really seems to care about their final placing. It just feels good to have them both here.