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Most disappointing team so far...

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Wolfpengap

May 2, 2009
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Who gets your vote?

I have to say Quickstep. We're used to seeing the Blue and White boys driving towards the line at the end of every stage, always in the mix. Now, I can't find them. Boonen is a joke (15 points), and Chavenel and Devolder are ghosts. This once proud team can't be happy. Skil-Shimano is more animated than them!

A close second for me is Liquigas. Bennati is never contesting the sprints, nor has Nibaldi been up there, and Kreuziger and Pelizotti are not nearly as highly placed as I thought they would be. (Although I think they may be waiting to strike next week.

It seems like everyone except Thor and Tyler have just given up on the first two weeks - and are letting Columbia control this thing.
 
Cobber

Cobber

Jun 18, 2009
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Wolfpengap said:
Who gets your vote?

I have to say Quickstep. We're used to seeing the Blue and White boys driving towards the line at the end of every stage, always in the mix. Now, I can't find them. Boonen is a joke (15 points), and Chavenel and Devolder are ghosts. This once proud team can't be happy. Skil-Shimano is more animated than them!

A close second for me is Liquigas. Bennati is never contesting the sprints, nor has Nibaldi been up there, and Kreuziger and Pelizotti are not nearly as highly placed as I thought they would be. (Although I think they may be waiting to strike next week.

It seems like everyone except Thor and Tyler have just given up on the first two weeks - and are letting Columbia control this thing.
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+1 for Quick-Step.... they have been pretty bad so far. Hopefully they will find some form for the 2nd half of the race!
 
ilillillli

ilillillli

Jun 30, 2009
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Cobber said:
+1 for Quick-Step.... they have been pretty bad so far. Hopefully they will find some form for the 2nd half of the race!
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it's hard not to say quickstep...

just for variety's sake, though, how about rabobank? Freire hasn't done much, Gesink's out, Menchov might as well be. I'm not saying they're underperforming, but EEESH.... things have not gone there way for either green, white, or yellow.
 
ericthesportsman6

ericthesportsman6

Jul 14, 2009
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1 more vote for rabobank, Menchov was considered a major chellenger to Astana and Gesink could have won KOM or the white jersey but is out. The most dissapointing is Oscar Freire, he couldn't even win on an uphill sprint finish in Spain, the perfect situation for him.
 
mr. tibbs

mr. tibbs

Mar 10, 2009
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Quick Step. They blew their stack getting Boonen into the Tour, apparently.

I wouldn't put Liquigas up there; they've done alright. A fourth in the TTT alone is a pretty good result. And now, they have a couple guys in the top 15 who are looking to move up a little bit. They're doing better than most teams at this point, I think. And, more importantly, they have smart kits!
 
A

Anonymous

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QS just attacked in the last 2 km and hold a 6 second lead over Rabo in the competition. The third week will decide.
 
Bala Verde

Bala Verde

Mar 10, 2009
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For the quality of the roster, I think RAB is the most underperforming team at the moment.

Freire was in a nasty situation in Barcelona, where he was the favoured rider to win the stage. Everyone knew that and Hushovd managed to stick to his wheel like sticky tape. Furthermore, since his team wasn't built around him, he has to do all the work by himself, so in Barcelona he had to react to Feillu placing a jump. In all other stages he (and Flecha) is on his own to position himself when trying to beat Cavendish and his train.

Menchov is unfocussed and he seemed seriously out of shape in the first TT. He lost too much time when he shouldn't have and I believe he was on the 'elastic' when the elite group rode up Arcalis. I think he lost contact for a while although he regrouped at the finish

Gesink, well, what can you say. Accidents happen, and as Ten Dam showed you can crash going down the Tourmalet and still continue the race, while others topple over in a ditch and have to abandon race.

The only ones that haven't gone down are Freire and Flecha?

Lampre deserves a prize as well...

Who are you saying... yes, the pink brigade. Furlan never gets to sprint, Ballan (who, the WC? yes the WC) has been invisible. And Bruseghin, where is he these days?

Then there is QST, with Boonen and the other Flandres man, Stijn Devolder. He is supposed to peak in the third week, but already thought of quitting... After Flandres, QST let him determine his own schedule, to prepare for the TdF. Well, the schedule he is on, is not in accordance with Lefevres sense of preparation. But then again, even Pineau, Rosseler and Chavanel haven't been able to deliver.
 
Aapjes

Aapjes

Apr 20, 2009
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Freire has never been a all-round sprinter. He needs a difficult finish, preferably on a small climb to win. He hasn't done that badly with a second and third place. In other years, he was lucky to win a stage. The rest of the team was designed to support Menchov and possibly Gesink in the TTT and the third week. The TTT went badly because of a crash and Menchov sucks, although the latter was not completely unexpected. After all, he went all-out for the Giro and it is nearly impossible to recover quickly enough from that to do well in the tour. I think that a top-10 in the tour would have been a good result after that. Normally, Menchov would lose time in the first week and gain some back in the third week. So he may still climb back into a somewhat decent placing. The third week has a lot of potential for good climber that is no threat to the GC. I'm hoping to see Ten Dam in a break for stage 16, 17 or 19. He definitely tried very hard on stage 9 already and I hope he recovers in time from his crashes. Gárate is a good climber as well. Perhaps Menchov can recover enough to do a Sastre. I don't think that Astana will expend too much energy to chase him down if he doesn't get more than 3 minutes on the peleton. So they may salvage their Tour with a win in a mountain stage without an uphill finish.

I think that Quick Step is doing much worse. Boonen's best result is 16th, which is incredibly poor for an top-class all-round sprinter. Normally, he should be in the top-5 for most sprint finishes. Stijn Devolder is 106th, where some people expected him to come in the top-10. Chavanel is not doing that badly, but he doing much worse than last year. Jérôme Pineau is the only highlight on that team really, with two top-10 placings (yes, Pineau is better than Boonen :eek: ).
 
S

subzro

Jun 13, 2009
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badboyberty said:
Are Quickstep actually at the tour?
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Sums them up for me too, what a disgrace .... that's the problem being a one trick team, if your trick doesn't work you all look like overpaid prats.

I will give Chavanel the benefit of the doubt for now and exclude him from my comment.
 
T

The Barb

Apr 14, 2009
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Team budgets (according to Official TDF Guide - Australia) in Euros:

Katusha 18.0M
Columbia 15.0M
Astana 12.0M
Rabobank 10.0M
Quickstep 9.0M
Cervelo 8.0M
Cofidis 8.0M
AG2R 7.3M
Caisse 7.0M
Garmin 7.0M
Milram 7.0M
Saxo Bank 7.0M
B-Box 6.5M
Euskaltel 6.0M
F des Jeux 6.0M
Lampre 6.0M
Liquigas 6.0M
Silence Lotto 6.0M
Agriturbel 3.7M
Skil-Shimano 3.0M

Now I know Katusha is a new team and a couple of their more pricey purchases aren't here (Steegmans and McEwen) but still, shouldn't we (and their sponsors) be expecting more than a measley two top five stage finishes and no one prominent in any of the categories (unless you count Karpets who sits 20th in the GC ....)?

For me Karpets and Pozzato are two of the more underperforming riders around.
 
TRDean

TRDean

Mar 18, 2009
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The Barb said:
Team budgets (according to Official TDF Guide - Australia) in Euros:

Katusha 18.0M
Columbia 15.0M
Astana 12.0M
Rabobank 10.0M
Quickstep 9.0M
Cervelo 8.0M
Cofidis 8.0M
AG2R 7.3M
Caisse 7.0M
Garmin 7.0M
Milram 7.0M
Saxo Bank 7.0M
B-Box 6.5M
Euskaltel 6.0M
F des Jeux 6.0M
Lampre 6.0M
Liquigas 6.0M
Silence Lotto 6.0M
Agriturbel 3.7M
Skil-Shimano 3.0M

Now I know Katusha is a new team and a couple of their more pricey purchases aren't here (Steegmans and McEwen) but still, shouldn't we (and their sponsors) be expecting more than a measley two top five stage finishes and no one prominent in any of the categories (unless you count Karpets who sits 20th in the GC ....)?

For me Karpets and Pozzato are two of the more underperforming riders around.
Click to expand...

Thanks for those numbers...they say a lot...I was reading where the Skil team do not even have their own cook with them!! There is a lot that goes into winning a race that takes place off the bike as well.

All that being said...QS is definitely a big disappointment. And by QS I mean Boonen. He could be in the sprints...but it appears he is actually making a concerted effort to not get involved!! WTF? As someone mentioned earlier...when you have a one trick poney team that can happen...of course Columbia are doing fine riding their poney to the finish eh?
 
Aapjes

Aapjes

Apr 20, 2009
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The Barb said:
Team budgets (according to Official TDF Guide - Australia) in Euros:

Katusha 18.0M
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was thinking about commenting on Katusha, but I considered them a somewhat minor team. Didn't know that they are no.1 in spending :eek: . Bij that metric they are the most disappointing team for sure.

Perhaps we should also nominate Katusha for the worst management. Their team is much weaker than Columbia, Astana or Rabobank (IMHO) and yet they spend loads more money. Are they overpaying their riders or does Tchmil have a coke habit?
 
Timmy-loves-Rabo

Timmy-loves-Rabo

Jun 22, 2009
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Rabobank have been disapointing. They had high hopes befor ethe tour im sure, now it just seems like a salvage mission.
S-L are in a bad position too, no stage win avans way back.
Quickstep have been god awful. Ok boonen hasn't been riding well, but the support he has recieved from his team at crunch time is pretty questionable.
 
ilillillli

ilillillli

Jun 30, 2009
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most disappointing team not at the tour...

rock racing

have you seen that squad? ouch. read the operacion puerto dossier... that's the roster.
 
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