To carry on from where I left off last time. This wasn't planned as an extensive preview, it just developed from a few notes I made for myself while reading up on the teams. I may be wrong at times, feel free to add and correct.

AUSTRALIA NAZIONALE

Carlee Taylor

Tiffany Cromwell

Belinda Goss

Amber Halliday

Lauren Kitchen

Shara Gillon

Chloe Hosking

Myfanwy Galloway

The Australians regularly bring a squad to the Giro and every year some flourish and eventually join the European circuit, while others wheeze their way through eight days of grupetto and go home to find an easier way of making a living. Tipped for stardom this year is young sprinter Chloe Hosking. Will she be able to outfox Teutenberg?

GAUSS RDZ ORMU - COLNAGO

Tatiana Antoshina

Julia Martisova

Tania Belvederesi

Martina Corazza

Emanuela Azzini

Edita Pucinskaite

Eleonora Suelotto

Alice Donadoni

Pucinskaite won this race on 2006 and 2007, and this team is very much hers as she tries for a third victory. Antoshina, the new Russian TT champion might try her luck on one of the two chronos, but the others will probably only get the chance to go for a stage win if things happen to fall right for them on the day.

TEAM CMAX DILA

Marta Vilajosana 34

Chiara Vanni

Francesca Faustini 20

Saneila Biagi 20

Arien Torsius 22

Alessia Quarta

Silvia Tirado Marquez 22

The star rider on CMax is likely to be new Spanish National champion Marta Vilajosana, who has been team leader since the team was founded in 2007. But the fact that everyone else is very young (2 twenty and 2 twenty-two year olds) and that they are a strong track team too, seems to suggest that they are likely to be an appetiser when the big girls come out to dine.

TEAM COLUMBIA HTC WOMEN

Mara Abbott

Kim Anderson

Judith Arndt

Kate Bates

Chantal Beltman

Ina Yoko Teutenberg

Linda Villumsen

Alex Wrubleski

The juggernaut in the room. The elephant behind the curtains. Whatever you call them, be nice. They are bigger than you. This team dominated last year and seemed set to do the same again this year. And not only did they win, they even had time to stop and pose for photos for us at Podium Cafe. Well anyone whose name is Dan can pretend that they did. Judith Arndt will be contesting the GC, helped by promising finds Mara Abbott and Linda Villumsen, Teutenberg will be hoping to equal last year's four stage victories. But the last year's plan seemed to be taken straight from the big book of USPS blue train tactics. Cervelo have shown this year that they are not prepared to be intimidated. Prepare for battle.

TEAM FLEXPOINT

Susanne Ljungskog

Mirjam Melchers Van Poppel

Loes Gunnewijk

Loes Markerink

Trine Schmidt

Iris Slappendel

Saskia Elemans

Elisabeth Braam

No obvious GC contender, but expect the likes of Susanne Ljungskog, Miriam Melchers Van Poppel and Loes Gunnewijk to be out hunting stages. Miriam Melchers is married to Cervelo DS Jean Paul van Poppel. Does this cause any conflicts, especially in stage races like the Giro?

TEAM SYSTEM DATA

Deborah Mascelli

Alena Dylko

Marina Vinnikava

Aleaksandra Lohvinova

Silvia Trovellesi

Zaira De Luca

Alessandra Lari

Liz Hatch

So you decide to sponsor a cycle team. For the publicity. The next step might be to give it a distinctive sort of name that would push it somewhere near the top of the results when someone searches for it. So, they've got Liz Hatch, who needs to do something to not become the Anna Kournikova of women's cycling. In the photos she posts on Twitter she seems to be wearing a McDonalds-Amore e Vita lookalike top. Is there a link? I don't know. He's on third base.

TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO RAXY LINE

Valentina Carretta

Serena Danesi

Alessandra D' Ettorre

Maddalena Dinato

Jennifer Fiori

Laura Pisaneschi

Chiara Rozzini

Marta Tagliaferro

Once one of the big names in Italian cycling, Fassa Bortolo are now only present as sponsor of one of the lower budget teams. Nineteen year old Valentina Carrettais spoken of as a possible next big thing, and contender for the white jersey, but it's a tough world out there and her contemporaries Mariane Vos and Emilia Fahlin are already performing at a higher level. They will need their team jersey to be even more glow in the dark than usual to get noticed.

USA NATIONAL TEAM

Katharine Carroll

Lauren Tamayo

Brooke Miller

Meredith Miller

Megan Guarnier

Shelley Olds

There are others here who know far more about these riders than I do, so feel free to add something below.

USC CHIRIO FORNO D’ASOLO

Clemilda Fernandes Silva

Uenia Fernades Da Souza

Edita Unguryte

Tetyana Riabchenko

Simona Frapporti

Viktoria Vologdina

Olena Oliynik

Tetyana Mykhaylova

Lots of Ukrainian riders, apparent website www.chiriofornodasolo.it doesn't work for me.