CSC
The three-time defending ProTour overall team champions, this powerful squad is a threat in any race it enters. A year ago, top speedster J.J. Haedo emerged from a hard-charging field to take victory in the Philadelphia International Championship. Haedo has continued those winning ways in 2008, already grabbing stage wins in the Tours of California and Georgia. If the sprinters don’t have their way, CSC can counter with Philadelphia-home owner Bobby Julich, the third place finisher at the 1998 Tour de France and bronze medalist in the time trial at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.    

Team High Road
America’s lone ProTour squad is led by the incomparable George Hincapie, who at varying times in his career has a won climbing stage at the Tour de France, the rough-and-tumble Belgian one-day semi-classic Ghent-Wevelgem, and the 1998 USPro Championship. Hincapie is joined by rising German star André Greipel, who cleaned up at Australia’s Tour Down Under, winning four stages and the overall crown at the 2008 season opener. The squad formerly known as T-Mobile also boasts Austrian all-rounder Bernard Eisel, who won the opening two rounds of the 2007 Triple Crown series on his way to the series title. 

Slipstream-Chipotle
No team made a greater leap forward between 2007 and 2008 then this Boulder, Colorado-based team that will make its Tour de France debut come July. Originally founded as a development vehicle for talented young American riders, Slipstream busted out the checkbook during the offseason, signing ProTour veterans David Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson, David Millar, Magnus Backstedt and Julien Dean. Add that all-star cast to holdovers such as Danny Pate and Will Frischkorn, and this team has cards to play in almost any race situation.

Toyota-United
Arguably the top U.S.-based team, this squad is led by sprinter extraordinaire Ivan Dominguez, one of the few riders whose managed to win races against the top European teams. Also keep an eye on Ivan Stevic, the reigning B-world champion. The Serbian strongman may have earned his blue rainbow striped jersey in an event for countries that did not qualify for the traditional world championships, but that doesn’t mean he’s a second-rate rider. Stevic powered to a stage win at the 2007 Tour de Georgia, and if healthy he is just the type of rider that might be able to make a breakaway stick in Philadelphia.

Health Net-Maxxis
Four time winner of the U.S. National Racing Calendar team title, this Oakland, California-based team dominated the 2006 Triple Crown series with Kiwi Greg Henderson winning in Reading and Philadelphia. Henderson now rides for Team High Road, but left behind was a strong team that’s led by 2007 NRC champion Rory Sutherland. A year ago Health Net totaled 63 victories and 121 podium appearances. This year it’s been more of the same, including April’s Garret Lemire Memorial Grand Prix, where team riders Kyle Gritters and John Murphy swept the top two places.

Rock Racing
The new bad boys of cycling, this team boasts a star-studded line-up that includes 2001 USPro winner and perennial fan favorite Freddie Rodriguez. After a long and storied career racing primarily in Europe, Fast Freddie has returned to his roots and will be looking to add a second Philadelphia win to his already stacked race resume. If that doesn’t pan out, Rock Racing will still have cards to play with 2004 Olympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton, and European peloton veterans Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla. Botero already proved he’s on top form this year, winning the early-season Redlands Classic stage race. Hamilton didn’t pick up any early season victories, but was slated to compete in the 15-day Tour of Colombia, and said he expected to be flying come Philly week.

Symmetrics
One of two Canadian based teams in the Triple Crown field, Symmetrics is led by acknowledged strongman Svein Tuft, winner of last year’s snow-marred U.S. Open. Before embracing a bike racing career, Tuft led a vagabond lifestyle, traveling up and down the Pacific Coast by bike, climbing mountains, and working odd jobs only when the money started to run out.

BMC
This amalgamation of top American and Swiss riders made the jump to Pro Continental status for 2008. The team’s roster centers around top Americans Jeff Louder and Tony Cruz, who is back in the U.S. peloton after making his second tour of duty in Europe with Lance Armstrong’s Discovery Channel team. Swiss Alex Moos is an exceptional climber, as witnessed by his 10th place overall finish in February’s Tour of California. Team rider Jackson Stewart was the last American to win a Triple Crown race, when he scored victory in the 2006 Lancaster race. Team director John Lelangue was running the show at Phonak in 2006 when Floyd Landis made his fateful – and since stripped – Tour de France title run.   

Team Type I
Arguably one of the most interesting teams in the U.S. peloton, this new-for-2008 squad includes four diabetic riders, Kiwi Tim Hargrave, Aussie Fabio Calabri, and Americans Joe Eldridge and Phil Southerland, who were both members of the winning 2006 and 2007 Race Across American eight-man outfits. Come Triple Crown time, all four will be outfitted with revolutionary continuous blood sugar monitors that allow them to race without worrying about self-monitoring. But Team Type I isn’t just some feel-good story. Led by former Navigators team director Ed Beamon, this squad has a formidable line-up that features the likes of Jesse Anthony, Shawn Milne and Glen Chadwick. A win in Philadelphia is probably too much to ask, but the tough Reading circuit with its multiple climbs could play into their hands if the favorites don’t keep tabs on these upstarts.

Team High Road
The dominant force in women’s cycling, this team has a powerhouse line-up that includes 2007 Liberty Classic winner Ina-Yoko Teutenberg of Germany, and American stars Mara Abbott and Kim Anderson. A year ago, the 22-year-old Abbott was the revelation of pro peloton, winning a stage of the Redlands Classic, the national road race championship, and scoring a silver at the Montreal World Cup. And all that happened while she was still devoting some time to swimming and college. This year, the young American is fully focused on cycling, with her eyes trained on the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Webcor Builders
This California-based team started 2008 with a bang when team rider Katheryn Mattis scored a breakthrough win at the Geelong World Cup race in Australia in late February. That victory celebration was muted a week later when Mattis broke her collarbone after crashing at the Tour of New Zealand. Nonetheless, Webcor’s international aspirations remain. The 2007 National Racing Calendar champion spent much of its spring campaign in Europe, helping team leader – and rheumatology doctor – Christine Thorburn pursue a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

Colavita-Sutter Home
Boasting a roster that includes full male and female squads, the women’s team is led by Tina Pic, one of the sport’s most decorated pros. During her lengthy career, Pic has won multiple U.S. national criterium championships and National Racing Calendar titles. This year Pic has gotten a boost from rising Aussie star Tiffany Cronwell, who already won the overall titles at the Garret Lemire Memorial Grand Prix and the Sea Otter Class Road Race.