2010 Team HTC–Columbia season

[5][6][7][8] The team next took wins at two partially concurrent events in February, the inaugural Tour of Oman and the Volta ao Algarve.

With the squad noted as one of the favorites in the stage 4 team time trial, Sieberg, as well as Goss and Greipel both three seconds back of him, all had a realistic chance of taking the pink jersey.

Pinotti was not quite able to bridge up to the leading trio of Vinokourov, Damiano Cunego, and stage winner Cadel Evans in the final kilometer, finishing six seconds back for fourth on the day.

[18] The next day's stage was also flat, and Greipel again had troubles in the sprint, coming only seventh out of the nine riders who finished three seconds ahead of the rest of the peloton.

[20] Pinotti took seventh in stage 12, when a late ten-man selection of General Classification favorites and hopefuls finished ten seconds ahead of the peloton.

He attacked in the final kilometer and appeared poised for a stage win, but Manuel Belletti passed him up 100 m (330 ft) from the finish line.

The team rode a tempo at the head of the peloton to keep the day's breakaway in check, and caught them in the stage's final few kilometers.

[25] In stage 19, which went over the Passo del Mortirolo, Pinotti returned to the top ten overall by finishing tenth on the day.

[27] The team's squad for the Tour de France was largely centered around Cavendish and the goal of having him win the green jersey.

Rogers, coming off overall wins in the Tour of California and the Ruta Del Sol, was the squad's General Classification hopeful.

[29] The first road race stage in Belgium featured many crashes, including one very near the finish line that greatly reduced the number of riders in position to sprint for victory.

Rogers finished twelfth on the day and 20 seconds behind the first group on the road, but gaining time against some contenders such as Joaquim Rodríguez and Andreas Klöden.

[36] Cavendish's success in the flats continued, however, as he won stage 11 with a sizeable lead over Petacchi and Tyler Farrar.

Amid the chaos, the three principal sprinters jumped for an unusually long final kick to the line, starting 400 m (1,300 ft) out.

[37] In stage 13 two days later, a field sprint seemed to be shaping up until Alexander Vinokourov slipped away for a solo win by a margin of 13 seconds.

His poor performances early in the Tour, however, meant he again fell just short of claiming the green jersey, losing out to Petacchi by 11 points.