WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: The French have to be considered one of the favorites entering the weekend. Gautier Paulin typically steps up for the big events (he finished 1-1 in 2014 to led France to the win). If Romain Febvre can find even a glimpse of the speed he showed in his first MXoN appearance last year (1-1 in Open) and Benoit Paturel doesn’t let the moment get to big for him, then France certainly has a good chance to three-peat.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGAINST THEM: If the French team struggles, the Federation will certainly have to answer questions about their decision to leave Marvin Musquin off the team. However, France also left Musquin off the team in 2014 and received criticism leading up to the event. The result? France went on to win!

Since the Federation Francaise de moto’s (FFM) official team announcement in early August, Dylan Ferrandis (MX2) was lost to a broken arm, and Febvre struggled down the stretch of the FIM World Motocross Championship. The 2015 MXGP World Champion secured just one moto podium over the last five rounds. Coupled with the fact that Paulin struggled in his second season with HRC Honda (only five moto podiums in 2016), the decision to leave Marvin Musquin off the squad in favor of Paturel, even after Ferrandis went down the injury, holds a lot of weight.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Depth. Even if you want to call this a “B” team, the roster of Cooper Webb, Jason Anderson and Alex Martin is still strong. Sure, a team of Ryan Dungey, Eil Tomac and Webb would have been considered the “A” team, but with recent injuries to France and Belgium, the Americans are still considered by many to be the team to beat. Webb moving to the 450 shouldn’t be a concern (he’s proven multiple times he’s great on a 450 and had plenty of prep) and at times Martin was one of the fastest 250 riders outdoors. Anderson’s lack of racing after returning from injury (he raced just one round at Ironman) has merit, but at that one race he showed he wasn’t too far off of his early season form.

WHAT THEY HAVE AGAINST THEM: Lack of track knowledge and inexperience. Of the contenders, only the United States will have zero knowledge of the Maggiora circuit—which is a staple on the Grand Prix schedule. Webb only has one MXoN appearance, Anderson has zero and Martin has two (albeit for Puerto Rico, which is much different than representing the U.S.). Coupled that with the fact that the U.S. has lost four straight, and the boys in red, white and blue have a lot of pressure this weekend.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Experience. Kevin Strijbos and Jeremy Van Horebeek are accustomed to the pressure of the ‘Nations. Strijbos was part of the winning Belgium team way back in 2004 and Van Horebeek was a member of the last winning Belgium team in 2013 at Teutschenthal. Even without Clement Desalle (knee injury) the Red Knights have a ton of experience and riders that know how to win at this event. 

WHAT THEY HAVE AGAINST THEM: No Clement Desalle. The MX Panda will miss a second straight ‘Nations due to injury. In France last year, without Desalle and Strijbos, Belgium still found the podium but were 40 points back of the second place United States. With Desalle, one could argue the Red Knights were, on paper, the pre-race favorites. Without? It may be tough to capture the Chamberlin Trophy. 

Team manager Joel Smets’ decision to keep MXGP regular Jeremy Van Horebeek on a 250 for the event and move Brent Van doninck, who spent 2016 in MX2, was certainly a curious one. Van doninck raced the Belgian Championship in MX1 last weekend as a warm-up and finished ninth overall. This move will certainly be examined closely this weekend.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Tanel Leok. The MXGP veteran has carried this small northern European country to five straight top 10 finishes—almost single handily. Leok led the team to its best finish since a fourth in 2004 at Lierop last year and there’s no reason to think he can’t do it again this year. 

WHAT THEY HAVE AGAINST THEM: They don’t have two other riders that can perform to the level of Leok. Harri Kullas and Priit Ratsep are fine riders with ‘Nations experience, but they’ve yet to prove they can battle for the podium like Leok.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: They finally have their complete team—and experience to boot. Switzerland has long been touted as a podium contender, but through injury or inexperience, they’ve never been able to capitalize on their strong youth movement of Guillod, Tonus and Seewer. This is a true dark horse contender.

WHAT THEY HAVE AGAINST THEM: Tonus has to move to the 450. Although he’s been testing for a few weeks—and looked good at the Glen Helen USGP—he hasn’t raced a 450 in Europe since the 2014 ‘Nations. (He also competed on the 450 in 2010 and 2011.) If Tonus can find his rhythm on the bigger bike, this may finally be the year for the Swiss.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: They finally have Jeffrey Herlings back. Due to injury, the three-time MX2 champion hasn’t raced the ‘Nations since 2012. And he even hinted to not racing the event this year after being part of the initial announcement. The last time Herlings raced, he led the Dutch to a fourth place finish (five points behind the United States for the final podium). With him, they should challenge for a podium, or even a win.

WHAT THEY HAVE AGAINST THEM: This isn’t a sand track. Herlings and Coldenhoff are brilliant in the sand, and if the race were at Lommel, for example, the Netherlands may be pre-race favorites. Alas, it’s not. Herlings and Coldenhoff are great on other surfaces, but they’re even better on sand.

Remember, Herlings hasn’t had a ton of time to test the 450 (one of the reasons he considered pulling out of the event); although he did win a Belgian Motocross round last weekend over Kevin Strijbos, Jeremy Van Horebeek and Steve Ramon on the bigger bike. This is a team to keep your eye on.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: GP experience. Both Dean Ferris and Todd Waters spent numerous years racing the Grand Prix circuit and know the schedule. Waters has even had success at Maggoria, finishing third overall there in 2015. The Motocross of Nations is where Ferris made a name for himself a few years back; so don’t be surprised if he does well this weekend.   

WHAT THEY HAVE AGAINST THEM: Injuries. Both Kirk Gibbs (femur) and Jed Beaton (collarbone) are gone from the original roster—replaced by Todd Waters and Mitchell Evans. Although he won the 2016 MDX Championship in Australia this year, Evans is just 17 and is still in high school! 

Also gone are former MXoN mainstays Chad Reed, Brett Metcalfe, Michael Byrne and Matt Moss. This isn’t your father’s Australian MXoN team.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Cody Cooper. The ageless New Zealand legend is still going strong and will need to have a great performance this weekend for the Kiwis to repeat their top 10 performance from 2015. In Open last year, Cooper went 20-30 to help New Zealand to eighth overall. He’ll need to be even better this time without the help of Ben Townley.

WHAT THEY HAVE AGAINST THEM: No Townley. Townley’s career resurrection began in France last year when he nearly won the MXGP Class behind 6-2 scores (he finished third behind Justin Barcia and Evgeny Bobryshev). Injuries cut his comeback short in MXGP this year (a theme all too common throughout his career) and the popular Kiwi announced his retirement earlier this year for a second time. Townley’s absence leaves a big hole for New Zealand to fill, which they’ll try and do with Josiah Natzke and Hamish Harwood—not exactly Shayne King and Daryl Hurley.    

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: They have Max Nagl, who should compete for the MXGP overall. Henry Jacobi has another year of experience after racing last year and Dennis Ullrich is a veteran of the ‘Nations.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: No Ken Roczen. Simple as that. Due to injury and team changes, Roczen hasn’t represented his country since 2013. Behind Roczen (and Max Nagl) Germany won its first ever MXoN title in 2012. Without Roczen this year, don’t expect the same.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Austria returns two of three members from a surprising 10^th place overall team a year ago. Pascal Rauchenecker, the surprise of MX2 in France with a fourth overall, returns to lead the team in Open. He’ll be joined by holdover Lukas Neurauter, who struggled to 35-34 finishes last year.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: Russia, Great Britain and Italy are expected to move back into the top 10, which will make hard for Austria to repeat.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Talent. This is the most talented team Spain has sent to the ‘Nations in more than a decade. Jose Butron is a veteran of the team (he debuted in 2011) and with the addition of teen sensation Jorge Prado, Spain could contend for their first top 10 since 2011.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: Inexperience. Prado is just 15 years old and only has three rounds of MX2 experience on his resume. He pushed Jeffrey Herlings for the lead at Herling’s home race in Assen during his MX2 debut, so maybe the stage isn’t too big for the youngster. But the ‘Nations holds a much different vibe than a GP round, and can rattle even the most experienced riders.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Russian Bob. Evgeny Bobryshev finished just two points behind Justin Barcia in the MXGP overall in France last year and should contend for the Open overall this year. Despite the efforts of Bobryshev last year, Russia still finished outside the top 10. We may see a similar story this year.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: No Tonkov. Aleksandr Tonkov, who missed the last six rounds of the FIM World Motocross Championship due to a back injury, will also miss the MXoN this weekend. He’s been replaced by Semen Rogozin. This is a huge blow for the Russians, as Tonkov was a podium contender in MX2 before his injury and had 5-6 finishes at the 2014 Motocross of Nations. Without Tonkov, a podium is doubtful.   

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Fast Freddie is back. After not being on the team last year, Fredrick Noren returns to represent Sweden in the Open Class. When Noren last raced in 2014, he led the team to an 11th overall finish with 5-17 scores and a sixth overall finish in Open.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: They lose Filip Bengtsson, who finished a team-best 11th in Race 1 (MXGP + MX2) last year (and grabbed a holeshot). Anton Gole will be paired with Alvin Ostlund, who struggled in France last year. This team will go as far as Noren can take them.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: They’re at home. We saw last year in France how a massive crowd can propel a team. And, after missing the event last year due to injury, Antonio Cairoli returns. That’s massive, as a young Italian squad struggled without him.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: Where are David Philippaerts and Davide Guarnieri when you need them? There is a lot of youth and inexperience behind AC (although, both Bernardini and Cervellin competed last year) and even Cairoli admitted it will be tough to be on the podium. “For me it’s really important race. We don’t have the best team to win, that’s clear,” he said at the Glen Helen USGP press conference. “Also maybe not for a podium, but we do our best to be there. I try to win the overall. That’s my goal. Without that we cannot really wish to be on the podium. So always my job is more tough than the rest but I try to bring less point as possible to Italy.” Bernardini, who finished eighth in MX2 this year, will need a big weekend if the Italians hope to podium at home.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Newly crowned European EMX250 Champion Thomas Kjer Olsen should contend in MX2 and Nikolaj Larsen has experience at the event. 

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: They only have one Olsen racing this year so we can no longer make our annual lame “No, not those Olsen twins” joke.

OTHERS:

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Talent. If you look down the start roster, you won’t find many teams with as deep as lineup as Great Britain. While they may not have a superstar that will power them to a 1-1 finish, their consistency is bound to take them far. Watch for Max Anstie to make a run at the MX2 class win. He was fourth in MX2 GP points this year but is known to run hot and cold—if he’s hot this weekend that could be a big boost for this team.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: Pressure. The British team has not finished on the podium since 1997, which is shocking since they won the event just three years earlier. They’ve been close, but can’t seem to get over the hump. In 2013, they tied the U.S. for third but lost a tie-breaker—and it could have been better had Simpson not popped an oil cap, robbing him of a top 10 finish in the first moto, and his chain not snapped in moto two. The following year, they finished fourth. Is this finally their year?

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Tim Gajser. At just 19 years old (he turned 20 after clinching) Gajser became the youngest MXGP world champion in his first year in the class. He landed on the podium in 16 of 18 rounds (a record) and now looks to lead the small southern Central European nation back into the A-Final, which they missed last year.

[Update: Gajser has been ruled out for this weekend due to a practice crash earlier this week. Peter Irt has been named as his replacement.]

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: Gajser is their only real threat. Slovenia will go as far as Gajser can take them—which may only be to the top 15. Jan Pancar and Jernej Irt aren’t exactly household names and aren’t expected to bring much to the table. But the team needs to at least get into the A-motos, which are only for the top 20 teams in qualifying. It would be a shame if the MXGP World Champion doesn’t even get to race in the main motos.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING FOR THEM: They have one American. Washington privateer, Noah McConahy, fills the role previously occupied by the likes of Alex Martin, Jimmy Albertson, Zach Osborne, Michael Leib, Tommy Weeck and more. Even with McConahy, it may be a struggle for Puerto Rico to reach the A-Final.

WHAT THEY HAVE GOING AGINST THEM: They only have one American.