Most disappointing team so far...

[ilillillli]

Astana. Where are the fisticuffs? Why hasn't Lance spiked Contador's bottles, or lowered his seat? Something. Just a bunch of teases.

second that. i'm getting tired of this "whoever's the strongest" diplomacy. let's see the dukes!

and, as far as i'm concerned, the more cartoony the better: oil slicks, banana peels, wheels with giant spikes coming out of the sides. bring it.

 

[Amsterhammer]

In terms of expectations that have not been realized, it's got to be Rabo. Menchov was supposed to be a 'contender'. Gesink was supposed to be a possible stage winner, polka-dot contender, and possible top 10-15. Freire was expected to grab at least one of the sprints that were meant to be too hard for Cav.

They should have had someone in the group today.

 

[mambo#5]

+1 on QuickStep. They are virtually invisible in this tour.

 

[The Barb]

Rabobank & Liquigas

I wouldn't ditch Liquigas just yet. Nibali and Kreziger aren't too far off the GC pace and while Kreuziger hasn't really shone so far I think we'll see more of him in the Alps. Plus, Pellizotti is odds-on to win the mountains classification and has been prominent in a couple of breakaways. Can't expect too much more from a low budget team.

Bennati, however, has done nothing whatsoever and is a shadow of the rider he was in 2007 and 2008. If he doesn't try to get in a breakaway on Saturday's stage it's hard to see him salvaging anything from the Tour (he certainly won't be much help to Kreuziger and Nibali in the mountains).

 

[elapid]

Quickstep and Rabobank.

 

[doddy13]

Quickstep simply because they paid so much legal fees to get Boonen into the race and look, nothing.

Katusha too, but they've been in some good attacks.
Rabobank have had really bad luck with some riders this year.


Finally, whoever said Skil Shimano, i'd disagree.

 

[craig1985]

Skil-Shimano.

I would say they are having a pretty good ride.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

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

Teams who do excellent considering thier budget:
Saxobank, Liquigas, Caisse and Garmin

Astana and Columbia may have big budgets but thier results speak for themselves.

Rabobank and Katusha - considering the money they spend compared to others - are disapointing on a whole.

 

[Boeing]

Although most might not agree I am most disappointed with Garmin. Not sure exactly what their make up is really. If it was to win the TTT's in the Giro and Le Tour then it is a fail. They don't seem to have a train to pull Farrar and Dean has been sucking Highroad wheel. maybe 2 guys in the mountains. The individual TT were supposed to rock but no results....Columbia and Astana seem to poke fun at then a lot

mark cavendish put it best 'they put their whole season into the TTTs this year and they failed'

doing a lot of things above average equals no results. Time to do one thing better than the others JV

 

[runninboy]

Although most might not agree I am most disappointed with Garmin. Not sure exactly what their make up is really. If it was to win the TTT's in the Giro and Le Tour then it is a fail. They don't seem to have a train to pull Farrar and Dean has been sucking Highroad wheel. maybe 2 guys in the mountains. The individual TT were supposed to rock but no results....Columbia and Astana seem to poke fun at then a lot

mark cavendish put it best 'they put their whole season into the TTTs this year and they failed'

doing a lot of things above average equals no results. Time to do one thing better than the others JV

In some ways i agree. When you have such strong riders as Miller, Wiggens VDV and then a speedy dean & farrar it is inexcusable that they have been so dominated in the sprints. Not once have they ever got the jump on COL leadout train. If i was Farrar i would be pretty upset because you can see its a management issue. JV was commenting about when they tried to leadout in the Giro it didn't work that basically they were helping leadout COL.
Heres a hint JV, You put Millar then Wiggens then Dean then Farrar behind CAV when it gets down to Hincapie ahead you have Miller drill it in the wind, when he pulls off Wiggens & dean should be able to equal COL last 2 men, make CAV come around Farrar. If CAV jumps on the train sit up.
Even LA talked about doing some things different to disrupt what everyone knows is coming.
Even on some of those tight Giro finishes in the Cipo era there would be dueling leadout trains. No reason that Garmin cannot challenge.

 

[Bluebeard]

Based on the budgets, from a sponsor perspective, the worst return would have to be:

Rabobank (€10m) Aside Freire's second and a couple of other top ten spots, rely on the injuries of Gesink and failure of Menchov to register any TV time. They'll be relieved of the Giro win for their investment
Katusha (€18m) A couple of attacks from Ignatiev and five top tens in total seems bad. To pay €18m for the season is huge, especially for a first season, and to have so little return from the main race is a big disappointment. Pozzatto (or anyone, to be honest) really needs to win a stage during the Tour for that money to seem to have been reasonably invested.

On the same criteria, I'd say the best value return in terms of the Tour would have to be - shock horror - some of the French teams!

Agritubel (€3.7m) One stage and a day in polka dots
BBOX Bouygues Telecom (€6.5m) Two stages and a second, loads of TV exposure in breaks
AG2R (€7.3m) Almost a week in yellow, one other significant brek, Mondory, Riblon and Roche adding a few top 10s

Otherwise, the two best teams for their sponsors would have to be Saxo who were yellow for near a week and have had two wins, and Columbia, with four, Green and White jerseys, and especially with Cavendish's sponsor specific celebrations - HTC must have their advertising in sports mags for the next two years wrapped up!

 

[fungee]

While this was not the question, not the topic of this thread,
I am also pretty much disappointed with the results of the German riders so far.

Tony Martin being the only exception.
He could end up in the top 20.

And Fröhlingers good ride to Andorra is worth mentioning as well.

 

[BeachBum]

Teams who do excellent considering thier budget:
Saxobank, Liquigas, Caisse and Garmin

I'm not trying to be a troll, but you can't compare Saxo to the other 3. Saxo has a stage win and had the yellow jersey, none of the other 3 can say that.

I would say Cervelo has been excellent based on their budget, 2 wins so far and multiple turns with the green jersey.

Rabobank and Katusha - considering the money they spend compared to others - are disapointing on a whole.

Agree on these 2, plus QS.

 

[luckyboy]

AG2R (€7.3m) Almost a week in yellow, one other significant brek, Mondory, Riblon and Roche adding a few top 10s

Don't forget everyone talking about their kit

 

[grimpeur]

Don't forget everyone talking about their kit

I love that kit, that was marketing brilliance.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'd have to agree with AG2R (obviously) and BBox.

Katusha is indeed a big disappointment. They had a lot of hope for performing well in the TTT, and maybe grabbing some real time in breaks or even a stage. But they're incognito. And the money is only part of it. I'd probably say that if their budget were half of what it were.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I'm not trying to be a troll, but you can't compare Saxo to the other 3. Saxo has a stage win and had the yellow jersey, none of the other 3 can say that.

I would say Cervelo has been excellent based on their budget, 2 wins so far and multiple turns with the green jersey.



Agree on these 2, plus QS.

oh i agree saxobank is the best, just look at thier ardennes campaign.
2 - 2nd places
and the victory at L-B-L
overall tehy are a great team.
Much better results throughout the season then the likes of rabo and katusha.

Was just putting them in the category of teams who do well considering their budget.

 

[hoolaparara]

Quickstep might have been invisible but at least that is better then the Keystone Kops antics of Inspector Menchov and the Rabobank Squad.

 

[elapid]

I'd have to agree with AG2R (obviously) and BBox.

Katusha is indeed a big disappointment. They had a lot of hope for performing well in the TTT, and maybe grabbing some real time in breaks or even a stage. But they're incognito. And the money is only part of it. I'd probably say that if their budget were half of what it were.

Interesting article on BikeRadar: http://www.bikeradar.com/blogs/article/the-sack-race-22456

It says that DSs should bear some responsibility for the team's performance and, like the majority of other professional sports, sacking should be considered if their performance is below par. The only current reason for a DS to be sacked is involvement with a doping scandal, and even then there are precious few. I find the need to perform a quandary: results are necessary to satisfy both sponsors and fans, but the desire to get results, particularly when competing with ultra-strong teams like Quickstep (in the Classics), Columbia-HTC and Astana, can promote doping as a way to achieve these results (and thus threaten the team even more).

What do y'all think?

 

[runninboy]

Garmin no stages, negative tactics Quickstep nothing, Rabobank invisible,
Silence invisible, oh wait, they rode the front today at the end

 

[ptensioned]

Rabobank

Can anyone think of another team more affected by crashes than Rabobank this season?

Freire missing Gent-Wevelgem, Flecha going down in Paris-Roubaix, Menchov almost losing the Giro in the final TT, Menchov again going down in the TTT, Gesink crashing and breaking his wrist, the list goes on. Bad luck or bad planning, who knows?

Maybe they need to look at motorcycle racing and start working on their tire selection?

As far as being the most disappointing squad, did anyone really think Menchov was going to seriously challenge after winning the Giro? It's not a coincidence that nobody had done that particular double since Pantani. Peaking enough for both tours is almost impossible these days. Yes, I know he won the Vuelta after competing in the TdF, but he wasn't properly peaking in France, never mind the fact that Spain is far less competitive. To me their Spring Classics season was far more disappointing. Nuyens, anyone?

As a Rabo fan, I was more looking forward to seeing what Gesink could do towards the white jersey and maybe winning a stage in the mountains. So much for that.

If you look at the season as a whole and not just at the TdF as an independent entity, Silence-Lotto gets my vote. Quick Step is built around the Spring Classics, and they hit just about every objective this year. Katusha did reasonably well this spring, and they don't really have much of a grand tour team (plus they won today). S-L had a terrible spring, and any attempt they've made to help Evans has been a disaster. See Popovych and Dekker. I understand their budget is small, and there is still hope of putting Evans on the podium, but fighting for 3rd has to be a let down for a team that, like Astana, focuses so firmly on the Tour.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

But the desire to get results, particularly when competing with ultra-strong teams like Quickstep (in the Classics), Columbia-HTC and Astana, can promote doping as a way to achieve these results (and thus threaten the team even more).

You have a very good point Elapid. As much as anyone else I have said too often pressure is put on riders to perform. Take a look at what happened to Mike Creed at RR.

 

[badboyberty]

How about the ASO add a new category, le Maillot Brun awarded to the leader of the team that disappoints the most.

Current pick, Boonen and Quickstep, but we'll have to see if the Raboboys can out underperform them in the Alps.

 

[beroepsrenner]

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. Next would be Rabobonk. They still cant find a replacement for Rasmussen???

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

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. Next would be Rabobonk. They still cant find a replacement for Rasmussen???

lol... you are either very 'tour' orientated or very ignorant.

Menchov = 2 Vueltas and a Giro
Boy o boy they must be dissapointed with him on a whole.

Gesink = looks to be one of the future GT greats.
already some great results.

I'd say rabo need no replacement for a shady rasmussen.