Best and worst teams in 2012 Tour

[maxmartin]

Best: SKY and LIQUI

SKY is pure dominance, W intentionally slowed on the first half of the prologue, otherwise it is quite possible W can ride the whole three weeks in yellow.

Liqui: Wonder boy Sagan and Nibali third place overall


Worst: vacansoleil (luck is not on their side) Katusha

 

[Richeypen]

Best is simple. Worst is hard to say because of injuries etc b ut will have to go for Saur-Sojasun

 

[Kwibus]

I don't agree with Rabobank.
They still got a stagewin, while half of the teams don't have one.

Besides Sanchez they were crap though. I definately agree with that.

Vacans has been depressing indeed.

 

[SuperH-]

worse Rabo? i remind you they won a stage which is a sucess. Maybe we expected better from Rabo but they certainly didnt fail as much as Saur-Sojasun , vacansoleil , katusha etc

 

[pugdog]

Best: SKY and LIQUI

SKY is pure dominance, W intentionally slowed on the first half of the prologue, otherwise it is quite possible W can ride the whole three weeks in yellow.

Liqui: Wonder boy Sagan and Nibali third place overall


Worst: Robo and vacansoleil (luck is not on their side)

All clinic discussions aside, best teams Sky, Liqui, Lotto, Europcar

bad luck teams, Argo Rabo Vacansoleil.

invisible teams OPQS Greenedge AG2R

 

[maxmartin]

Best is simple. Worst is hard to say because of injuries etc b ut will have to go for Saur-Sojasun

Saur-Sojasun is not even world tour, and Brice Feillu did show up in the TV in the last couple of stages despite being very sick in the beginning.

I think my worst teams are measured against my expectations.

 

[maxmartin]

I don't agree with Rabobank.
They still got a stagewin, while half of the teams don't have one.

Besides Sanchez they were crap though. I definately agree with that.

Vacans has been depressing indeed.

I totally forgot that, guess this tour is just boring.
I agree with you, Robo should not be on the worst list. I changed Robo into Katusha

 

[Richeypen]

Saur-Sojasun is not even world tour, and Brice Feillu did show up in the TV in the last couple of stages despite being very sick in the beginning.

I think my worst teams are measured against my expectations.

Given the injuries I just dont see how you can say Rabo and Vaco were bad though, they both lost their best riders.

 

[maxmartin]

Given the injuries I just dont see how you can say Rabo and Vaco were bad though, they both lost their best riders.

didn't you see in the post, i said very clearly luck is not on their sides?

 

[argyllflyer]

Not sure if Argos Shimano have justified the wildcard, all their eggs in one basket with Kittel who then had 'stomach flu' and withdrew. At least the three French ProConti sides have tried to get in breaks or go for stage wins. Argos Shimano have been completely anonymous.

 

[theyoungest]

Not sure if Argos Shimano have justified the wildcard, all their eggs in one basket with Kittel who then had 'stomach flu' and withdrew. At least the three French ProConti sides have tried to get in breaks or go for stage wins. Argos Shimano have been completely anonymous.

In the first few sprint stages their plan B sprinter Veelers did pretty well. But that's about it. They should have brought Degenkolb as well, Kittel was always going to be a question mark given his very limited ability to climb hills.

Personally I think Greenedge is the worst team in this Tour, based on potential vs. results. They have a lot of pretty decent riders who've had to sacrifice themselves for two weeks, for a sprinter who clearly doesn't "have it" for whatever reason. And now in the final week, when they're let off the leash, they're too tired to get results for themselves.

And Greenedge actually didn't have that much bad luck, as opposed to other underwhelming teams like Rabobank and Vacansoleil.

 

[PeterB]

As regards the best ones (or rather most successful), this is clear already: Sky, Europcar, Lotto.

Let's wait with naming the biggest fails until we are in Paris. Maybe Greenedge can achieve something in the sprint or someone else in the breakaway in the remaining days. You would have probably considered Movistar a fail before they got such a nice victory yesterday.

 

[Cimber]

worst team untill yesterday was Movistar. Now it should be Katusha or Vacansolei. Orica Greenedge could be a candidate too.

Best team: I know Sky is the obvious choise, but I would like to meantion Eurocar as a contender too. STBT have been strong too, but with no victories they cant be a candidate imo.

 

[Wiggins_Sideburn]

Saxo-bank are the worst i think.

 

[Arnout]

Argos no question. They shouldn't have been invited in the first place and did nothing to convince me otherwise.

 

[Cimber]

Saxo-bank are the worst i think.

Imo Saxo is one of the best, despite not winning anything. Not the best ofc ourse since they didnt win anything, but they have ridden very agressively in both flat and mountain stages; they have been almost in every breakaway and been close to a stage victory a few times. Won the red number a few times and Mørkøv had the Polka for about 6 days. They dont alot better than I had expected with the material they have available. Mørkøv and CAS have impressed me, and JJ has done decently. Nuyens have been somewhat disappointing though.

PS: oh and the teams move on stage 16 was pretty epic imo.

 

[argyllflyer]

Not sure if Argos Shimano have justified the wildcard, all their eggs in one basket with Kittel who then had 'stomach flu' and withdrew. At least the three French ProConti sides have tried to get in breaks or go for stage wins. Argos Shimano have been completely anonymous.

I see Sprick is in today's break! I half take it back.

 

[theyoungest]

Imo Saxo is one of the best, despite not winning anything. Not the best ofc ourse since they didnt win anything, but they have ridden very agressively in both flat and mountain stages; they have been almost in every breakaway and been close to a stage victory a few times. Won the red number a few times and Mørkøv had the Polka for about 6 days. They dont alot better than I had expected with the material they have available. Mørkøv and CAS have impressed me, and JJ has done decently. Nuyens have been somewhat disappointing though.

PS: oh and the teams move on stage 16 was pretty epic imo.

Are you Danish, by any chance?

Saxo have been okay, they've sure been in some breakaways, but when push comes to shove none of these guys can really make a mark on the race. Chris Anker is the personification of Saxo sans Contador: he tries really hard, but he's just not good enough.

 

[Nastyy]

The only team that was great as a whole was Sky. Liquigas was good but only really Sagan and Nibali + Basso for 2 days did something. Lotto was great too with Greipel and VdB, also kudos to the guys in Greipel's leadout. Europcar was awesome too but like Liquigas they were a two man team. FDJ was one of the better teams too, they leave with 2 stage wins and possibly a TOP-10. Besides Fedrigo and Pinot, Casar was very visible in breaks. Hutarovich was a disappointment though.

Hard to choose the worst team as there were many who didn't do anything worth mentioning, but maybe I have to go with Cofidis. I'm a fan of every French rider and French team but I have to say I hope Cofidis either changes dramatically or stops getting invited to big races. They really bring nothing to the big races anymore. Taaramae will likely leave and Moncoutie retires, at least David will put on a good last show for us in the Vuelta. Of course they could've been good if Taaramae hadn't had his problems earlier in the season and Moncoutie could've shown himself in the Pyrenees. Also the problems with Di Gregorio make their Tour even worse.

For personal reasons I have to add Saxo on the worst teams list. They gave me so much misery with CAS. That guy just looks so ugly on the bike. Hands down the second ugliest thing I've seen on my TV screen, only second to Tora Berger on skis. And of course he's in every break in the mountains and I'm forced to watch him ride for hours.

 

[RedheadDane]

Are you Danish, by any chance?

Saxo have been okay, they've sure been in some breakaways, but when push comes to shove none of these guys can really make a mark on the race. Chris Anker is the personification of Saxo sans Contador: he tries really hard, but he's just not good enough.

First of all: Just in case you'd wonder; yes! I'm Danish.
And of course Saxo didn't have any chance for the GC, but given the circumstances I'd say the did fairly well:
Six days in the dots (unfortunately with the wrong person and at the wrong end of the race.
Several breakaways, which have resulted in the red number three times and a rider in the running for the Super Fighter Prize in Paris.
Eight top-10 placings on stages.
What looks like a top-20 placing in GC.

For personal reasons I have to add Saxo on the worst teams list. They gave me so much misery with CAS. That guy just looks so ugly on the bike. Hands down the second ugliest thing I've seen on my TV screen, only second to Tora Berger on skis. And of course he's in every break in the mountains and I'm forced to watch him ride for hours.

Yes. Chris Anker would win the competition for ugliest style hands down, but last time I checked cycling wasn't a beauty contest. You have to admit that was he did yesterday, and is doing today, is pretty cool.

 

[DominicDecoco]

For personal reasons I have to add Saxo on the worst teams list. They gave me so much misery with CAS. That guy just looks so ugly on the bike. Hands down the second ugliest thing I've seen on my TV screen, only second to Tora Berger on skis. And of course he's in every break in the mountains and I'm forced to watch him ride for hours.

Rather unsympathetic and a great argument for Saxo being the worst team...

 

[pugdog]

Cofidis haven't been too hot either.

 

[Gloin22]

Best : Sky

Quite Good : Liquigas, Lotto

Worst : - Katusha Team ( their leader in GC disappointed and the team showed nothing except that and with team on one of highest budgets in peleton - that's disappointing )

- Saur – Sojasun ( failed to produce a moment that I can remember them from, unlike Argos who had Veelers in some good places )

 

[Koba80]

Hang on, Cofidis were at the Tour?

 

[Gloin22]

Hang on, Cofidis were at the Tour?

I think they showed mroe than Saur though.

Dumoulin was 4th on Stage 5 : Rouen - Saint-Quentin. And 6th on Stage 15 : Samatan - Pau wchich isn't bad.

Taarame disappointed totally though.