Most disappointing team so far...

[Boeing]

hands down it is garmin

 

[Four Winds]

QS and badboy boonen. I knew they should have taken Davis instead. At least they would have had some podiums on the flat bunch gallops.

Totally agree. Davis must be at home crying into his Fosters

 

[saxe_coburg_gotha]

Slow Step is making a good attempt and winning this category. Tom B has done a runner before things get to "high"
But Cervelo Test Team is running close after supporting Thor and his petty protest.
As usaul the Basques are all hype and Lotto have missed the draw.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Menchov may have summed up Rabobanks tour yesterday...

 

[53x11 in DC]

hands down it is garmin

Someone remind me where Wiggins is on GC?

And Tyler is at least putting up a fight.

Not sure they were banking on TTT, and with VdV still not 100% recovered, I'm not sure how anyone puts them behind QS. Unless, of course, one is a Columbia-HTC fan with a bone to pick!

 

[53x11 in DC]

Gotta feel sorry for Skil and their 3m budget:

1. 3 riders in the bottom 10
2. 5 riders in the bottom 34
3. 7 riders in the bottom 44
4. Best-placed rider is 1:05:05 down in 89th place
5. Team is 3h38m back, almost DOUBLING the next worse (Lampre at 2h6m)
6. Van Hummel, the Lanterne Rouge, is 3h2m back in one of the least taxing first two weeks I can remember.
7. Good news is that Beppu is 11m up in the "Rising Sun" competition over Arashiro.

Not the most disappointing, as they ARE active. But boy, are they out of their league.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Rabo and Quick Step, based upon "aspiration level" and the huge distance they are from reaching their aims.

 

[badboyberty]

Le Maillot Brun Standings after stage 15

Another mass of points for Rabobank after stage 15. Ten Dam best finisher, 5 minutes back, with Menchov in over six minutes back in 65th position. Post-Giro fatigue is one thing, but to lose that much time Menchov must have dropped off while O'Grady and Voigt were warming things up at the base of the climb.

Top five for the Maillot Brun of most disappointing Team now would be:
1. Rabobank
2. Quickstep
3. Milram
4. Lampre
5. Silence/Garmin (tied for fifth but can still win this with a collapse on Ventoux or a lousy ITT)

Thanks to Ivanov's stage win Katushka should be out of the running for now, while Euskatel might need more than a day in the dots to stay out of the Brun.

 

[badboyberty]

Totally agree. Davis must be at home crying into his Fosters

Australians don't drink Fosters. Davis will be XXXX as a Queenslander, or a Cooper's if he's got any taste in beer. The only time I've seen someone in Australia drink a Fosters was on a plane headed out of the country.

 

[BeachBum]

Another mass of points for Rabobank after stage 15. Ten Dam best finisher, 5 minutes back, with Menchov in over six minutes back in 65th position. Post-Giro fatigue is one thing, but to lose that much time Menchov must have dropped off while O'Grady and Voigt were warming things up at the base of the climb.

Top five for the Maillot Brun of most disappointing Team now would be:
1. Rabobank
2. Quickstep
3. Milram
4. Lampre
5. Silence/Garmin (tied for fifth but can still win this with a collapse on Ventoux or a lousy ITT)

Thanks to Ignatiev's stage win Katushka should be out of the running for now, while Euskatel might need more than a day in the dots to stay out of the Brun.

I like your idea, I hope you update the 'bottom 5' every day post finish-- and don't forget your pithy commentary! LOVE your comments on how Garmin/Silence can still win it.

 

[benpounder]

Columbia.

They blew a good chance for Cav to be in Green in Paris for the slight possibility that George might have a day in yellow.

Really stupid team tactics...

 

[blaxland]

Australians don't drink Fosters. Davis will be XXXX as a Queenslander, or a Cooper's if he's got any taste in beer. The only time I've seen someone in Australia drink a Fosters was on a plane headed out of the country.

+1 As a fellow Aussie Your quote was spot on.......No one is Australia drinks Fosters...Give me a Tooheys New Anyday Mate..

 

[badboyberty]

Columbia.

They blew a good chance for Cav to be in Green in Paris for the slight possibility that George might have a day in yellow.

Really stupid team tactics...

Remember also that Hincapie worked with Thor in the Pyrennes when Thor picked up 12 intermiediate sprint points. Maybe instead of haranguing Cadel for being in the break, Hincapie should have been driving the peleton to bring back Hushovd. If Cavendish loses green by less than twelve points Columbia might think about a road captain who's not going to blow everything for his own 15 seconds of fame.

Up to this Tour Hincapie was my favourite American in the pro-peleton, now it's Ryder Hesjedal all the way (yeah I know he's not really an American, ayy...)

Despite Hincapie's attempts the Maillot Brun is being judged on a team basis, and the team are still along way from earning "the Most Disappointing Team" title. A fistful of stage wins and the white jersey for most of the tour is a lot more than what almost any other team have achieved. Plus, I'm giving them bonus points for Cavendish's "I'm an ***" interview.

 

[benpounder]

...

Shleck or Nibali will finish in white. I've changed the question to the most boneheaded move, rather than the most dissappointing team. And in stage 14 team Columbia bent over backwards...

 

[Mellow Velo]

Columbia.

They blew a good chance for Cav to be in Green in Paris for the slight possibility that George might have a day in yellow.

Really stupid team tactics...

Yeah, I'll bet Rabo, QS, Milram, Lampre, EE, Lotto, Cofidis, Skil etc wish they had had such a crap Tour.
More myopic bollocks.

 

[auscyclefan94]

What has Lampre acheived... 1 agressive rider on a stage . that's it. They are definetly the worst team.

 

[badboyberty]

What has Lampre acheived... 1 agressive rider on a stage . that's it. They are definetly the worst team.

Worst team might well be Lampre, but most disappointing team is still a toss between Rabo and Quickstep.

IMHO

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Rabo and Quick Step, based upon "aspiration level" and the huge distance they are from reaching their aims.

that is why rabobank have been the most dissapointing.
They had high hopes for menchov and Gesink. And had what seemed like a great sqaud. A lot of it was bad luck, but another part of it was lack of planning and riders not stepping up.

QS high hopes really just relied on Boonen, who was terrible this tour.

Lampre may have dont nothing, but did they really have any expectations?

 

[benpounder]

Yeah, I'll bet Rabo, QS, Milram, Lampre, EE, Lotto, Cofidis, Skil etc wish they had had such a crap Tour.
More myopic bollocks.

I'm not saying they have had a crappy tour - in fact, I argue they have had a great tour. But, they likely blew their chance at a stellar tour due to misguided objectives on stage 14.

 

[Anonymous]

I was going to say QS but after reading some arguments I have to agree with Rabo as the most disappointing team. QS only had aspirations for sprints. But Rabo had GC aspirations since Menchov won the Giro. But now he is no where close to being a contendor.

Although Boonen certainly comes in a very close second with all his whining pre-Tour just to get in and do what? Do absolutely nothing. Sick or not, he sucked! Allen Davis deserved a chance but got left off for a coke head.

I was such a big Boonen fan but he didn't deserve to be there. He may not have taken doping products but he still used illegal drugs and got caught for the second time! It's his own fault. To make things worse he abandons the Tour.

 

[badboyberty]

Maillot Brun (Most Disappointing Team) standings after Stage 16

New Leaderboard for Brown Jersey of Most Disappointing Team

1. Rabobank
2. Quickstep
3. Lampre
4. Milram
5. Silence-Lotto

Silence-Lotto have cemented their place, any points VDB earnt for making the break of the day were lost by not being at his team leaders side as he cracked. Probably would have taken a win on the stage to salvage things.

And Euskatel are now totally out of the competition with the impressive win by Astraloza.

It's going to be hard for big gaps to develop in the next few days. Only changes that could come are a team might be able to pull themsleves out with a stage win in a breakaway, or someone else could catapult themselves into le Maillot Brun with a positive for drugs.

 

[Mellow Velo]

New Leaderboard for Brown Jersey of Most Disappointing Team

1. Rabobank
2. Quickstep
3. Lampre
4. Milram
5. Silence-Lotto

It's going to be hard for big gaps to develop in the next few days. Only changes that could come are a team might be able to pull themsleves out with a stage win in a breakaway, or someone else could catapult themselves into le Maillot Brun with a positive for drugs.

Is this a polite way of saying the "maillot merde"?

 

[badboyberty]

I've realised I must apologise to the French, just because I don't have any expectations from FDJ or Cofidis doesn't mean their fans don't.

Normally Kern's mountain top second place and his subsequent donning of the spots for a day along with Usov's stage 16 exploits would keep Cofidis well out of the contest, but Moncoutié talked up his polka dot aspirations in the lead up this years Grande Boucle so his current 14th place in that competition weighs heavily on his team. Conversely, FDJ are solely riding on Casar's stage 8 performance to keep out of the top three.

Doesn't warrant a reshuffle but makes Silence's hold on the number five a bit more tenuous, a good ride by Cadel or VdB could throw them out of the running for the Maillot Brun.

1. Rabobank
2. Quickstep
3. Lampre
4. Milram
5. Silence-Lotto
6. Cofidis/ FDJ

 

[Aapjes]

Rabobank dropped a few places after today, I'd say.

 

[ilillillli]

why is everyone sticking up for skil-shimano? disappointing? maybe not, but really bad? yup.