Three world champions will ride for the new women's team, MCipollini-Giordana next season. The news comes today from the good people at Cicloweb.it. Marta Bastianelli, Nicole Cooke, and Tatiana Guderzo will form the core of MCipollini-Giordana, which on paper, promises to be competitive throughout the season's big races. The roster totals eleven riders and includes Rossella Callovi, a former junior world champion, Monica Baccaille, a two-time Italian national champion, Jennifer Hohl, a former Swiss national champion, Marta Tagliaferro, Rossella Gobbo, Samantha Galassi, Elisa Frisoni, and Yulia Blindiuk.
The women's field looks increasingly intriguing for next season. The addition of two strong Italian teams, MCipollini-Giordana and Diadora-Pasta Zara, and the strengthening of Dutch teams like Leontien.nl Ladies Team and Nederland Bloeit should offer a challenge to the dominance of HTC-Columbia and Garmin-Cervélo. Spreading out the talent among more teams should make for some exciting racing as the big teams may find it more difficult to control the field. Certainly, it's nice to see a few new sponsors join the sport.