As directeur sportif for the top team in North America, JeffCorbett has carved out a nice position for himself at Health Net-Maxxis.A former pro racer, Corbett, 36, founded the 7Up team in 1998, managingand racing on its various incarnations, as the team became 7Up-ColoradoCyclist in 2000 and 7Up-Nutra Fig in 2001. Corbett’s last year as a rider-managerwas 2002, the year Canadian Charles Dionne put the 7Up-Nutra Fig team onthe map with a win at the San Francisco Grand Prix ahead of Henk Vogelsand Lance Armstrong. In 2003 Corbett focused solely on directing the 7Up-Maxxisteam, which merged into Health Net-Maxxis in 2004.

Since 2004, Health Net-Maxxis has sat atop the National Calendar Rankingsthree years running. In 2005 the team had a dream season, winning nineof 11 stage races entered as a team, taking an unprecedented sweep of theWachovia Week races — with three victories by three different riders —and winning the NRC team title by more than 2000 points. Last year HealthNet took the team rankings and put three riders in the top four individualrankings, beat out only by Floyd Landis. The team has also sent a rideron to the ProTour each year: JasonMcCartney to Discovery Channel in 2005, TylerFarrar to Cofidis in 2006 and Greg Henderson to T-Mobile in 2007.

For the 2007 season the Health Net squad will see some major rosterchanges. Returning are the team’s Aussie strongmen NathanO’Neill and KarlMenzies, ranked second and fourth on the NRC last year. Also returningare dependable Americans JeffLouder, RomanKilun, DougOllerenshaw, KirkO’Bee and TimJohnson, who will serve as the team’s road captain.

Gone, however, are the three veterans that rode for the team from 2004through 2006: Gord Fraser, to retirement, and MikeSayers and ScottMoninger, who moved on to BMC. Also departed is Henderson, who tookone of the team’s biggest wins in 2006 at the Commerce Bank Internationalin Philadelphia.

Tim Johnson and new recruit Ryder Hesjedal adjust the SRM.

Corbett was active during the second half of the season, and broughtaboard 26-year-old Canadian RyderHesjedal, from Phonak, as well as young Aussie RorySutherland, who turns 25 on Thursday. Sutherland, who rode for theRabobank espoirs team from 2002 through 2004, returns to racing followinga 15-month suspension for clomiphene,an anti-estrogen fertility drug. Uponhis return to racing, Sutherland finished third overall at Australia’sBay Classic Criterium Series in January and took second behind O’Neillat the national time-trial championship.

The team also brought aboard 2005 British national champion RussellDowning, from DFL-Cyclingnews, ShawnMilne, from Navigators Insurance, and a pair of riders from the U.S.under-23 national team,