Assuming Landis can come back, should he stay...
 

with Phonak/iShares?

Phonak was weak. They were not able to provide any kind of support like Lance had in recent years. Maybe they'll be able to hire some folks after this year with iShares coming on board.

It sure would be nice for iShares to hire some of the American support riders. It would be nice to have a true American team.

Look at Discovery. With Hincapie now firmly solidified as a support rider, how are Americans supposed to get excited about all these non-Americans like Popyvich?

I think Landis stays with iShares because he seems to be the loyal sort.

How does a cycling team work together? I'm not sure what to look for.

Does one teammate ride alongside a rival and shove a golf club into the rival's spokes on his wheel? That would be cool to see something like that - a "Rollerball/Roller Derby" kind of thing. :D

Thanks in advance.

the short answer is "aerodynamics".

Drafting isn't just for folks who work in an engineering office, eh?

Along with drafting there are some other important things.

For example...

Pace setting... Drafting in the peleton is good and can make life MUCH easier for the big name riders but it doesn't do them much good to sit in a peleton that isn't going anywhere. Somebody has to get up front and do the hard work. If you're a Lance, or Floyd, or Kloden you need a team that can go up front and chase down a break away or keep up a high pace that will discourage a break away.

Domestique duties... Somebody has to drop back and get water, etc, from the team car.

Spy duties... There is a ton of stuff going on out on the road. Some people are hurting, some break away, some sneak around just behind the leaders. You need to have a team that knows what is going on and who is sitting where in the pack. If your team isn't paying attention you could get caught sleeping while another team groups up for an attack.

also

1) police breakaways. Get up in them and don't do any work. "you can pull me to the win or you can give up"

2) making sure your GC guy is at the front and protected. Much less work to be in the middle of the peleton. Being in the front protects you from the inevitable crashes.

They work together by aerodynamics, by setting pace.

As you probably saw, T-Mobile frequently had several riders protecting Kloeden. If you have a group of fast riders then the captain need only exert himself at key moments.

That would never work on a co-ed team. Every time I see your avatar I feel a desire to exert myself at what may or may not be a key moment.