• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Strongest Pro Team 2012?

Page 2 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.

Which is the best pro team 2012?

  • Euskaltel-Euskadi

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
  • Poll closed .
Apr 9, 2011
3,034
2
0
Visit site
richtea said:
I'm a bit bemused by these arguments that BMC become a stronger team because Hushovd gets a good result at PR again. The results come because of the quality of the riders not the other way round.

I think it is more to do with team riding for team rather than individual team of stars
 
Aug 18, 2009
4,993
1
0
Visit site
Just noticing how Wiggins rode out the utter ridicule he received on this forum in 2010, and is now a highly rated GT contender.
 
Sky and BMC. Both perhaps have too many potential leaders, with BMC having the edge with Gilbert and Evans, but Sky have a much deeper squad to support a range of ambitions. So overall, I'd have Sky in the lead. We are assessing teams after all, not simply the biggest stars.

Radioshack-Nissan are third.

Other good squads include Movistar, OPQS and Garmin but not on quite the same level. Saxo obviously have the best GT rider, if he doesn't get banned, but they have an absolute dog of a team outside of him.
 
*On Paper: BMC
*Strongest on all fronts (GC, Classics & week-long races) BMC, Sky, Radioscam-Leotard.
QS-OPL lacks a GC rider & that's a pity, whereas Saxo has the most powerful GC rider without a really strong team behind to challenge other races like the Cobble Classics...
 
hfer07 said:
*On Paper: BMC
*Strongest on all fronts (GC, Classics & week-long races) BMC, Sky, Radioscam-Leotard.
QS-OPL lacks a GC rider & that's a pity, whereas Saxo has the most powerful GC rider without a really strong team behind to challenge other races like the Cobble Classics...

Year 'cause having the defending winner of a cobble monument shows how bad a team it is:rolleyes:
 
Jun 20, 2011
247
0
0
Visit site
just some guy said:
Since the team has only been in the WT for 1 year staring its 2nd in 2012 how do you develop riders
BMC was founded in 2008 and since 2010 they have really high budget. Why should i rate their developing since last year only ? Team Sky was build in 2010 and since then they already had few riders who improved a lot (Thomas, Froome, Appollonio e.g.). BMC have absolutely noone.
 
Nov 30, 2010
797
0
0
Visit site
I voted RadioSchleck.

Brunyel + the underperforming Leotards could be a devastating mix together with his old RetirementShack overperformers.

On the other hand it could go the opposite way, let's hope so.

Interesting to see how many votes Garmin Cervelo are getting when you look at how highly rated they were before last season. A merger that didn't work out.
 
Can see Cancellara winning one of the cobbled classics with a bit of luck given his weak support, Kloden/Horner maybe winning a short stage race, and Andy can get on the Tour podium, but I think that's the most they can hope for.


Garmin have lost their best rider and some of their most promising young riders.

Their new signings aren't that great:
A few guys for Farrar's train, who will be second-best to Cav in the sprints again.
5 young riders.
Rosseler will bolster their classics team, nobody knows how Vansummeren + Maaskant will do though. Would be extremely lucky to take Roubaix again. Vanmarcke is obviously too young to go into it as a leader. Maybe they can podium there.
Wegmann is a good climber and will be able to help whoever leads in GTs. Not sure what they can hope for in those though, not a great deal I suspect.

They have been restricted in the market by their sponsor trouble though.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Sky for me (I wouldnt have said that before now).

In the first two years there were obvious weak links in the team but looking at the 2012 roster its pretty hard to see any "passengers"

As others have said, best sprinter in the world with a decent backup group of Sutton, Appollonio, Swift
Decent GC Riders in Wiggins, Siutsuo, Froome, but not to the standard of Contador, Evans etc
Decent classics riders, EbH, Flecha, Hayman, Thomas, Stannard, with the potential of Uran in the Ardennes (he didnt do bad last year)
And plenty of up and comers, Uran, Henao, Puccio, Kennaugh etc
And blessed with domestiques/stage racers, Porte, Rogers etc

Dont have the stars like Gilbert, Cancellara, or a Contador or Evans and may not win monuments or grand tours, but will be in the top three again at the end of the year.

For me, BMC Second, but it will be interesting to see how the stars get on with each other.
Radioshack third, and the same can apply.
 
Netserk said:
Year 'cause having the defending winner of a cobble monument shows how bad a team it is:rolleyes:

I'm not diminishing Nuyens Victory-but if you compare "man to man" of what Saxo has available against the other teams I've mentioned, I'm certain the team still comes short to fully support Nuyens in defending his title & even go for a successful P-R assault
 
gooner said:
I voted BMC. Evans should get at least a podium this years Tour. Gilbert should still get a number of high profile wins even if it will tough to repeat his levels of last year. But i really fancy hushovd for Paris-Roubaix this year. Who knows he could of won it last year only for team orders inhibited him from attacking as van summerren was in the lead group. He looked very strong indeed and matched many of cancellara"s attacks.

and yet he (thor) couldn't follow him when he (Canc) took off to chase van summeren by himself at the end...
 
Jan 7, 2010
121
0
0
Visit site
sky. and it's awful sad to have to admit it as their attitude sucks balls.
having watched them leech off the highroad train for the last two years, only showing their faces at the front in the last 5kms or so eeevery blooooody time i'm ever so hopeful that they don't get an ounce of help in carting cavendish to the line. ever. what concerns me is that the brains trust at greenedge will get all commonwealth-spirited and help them out.
 
May 14, 2010
5,303
4
0
Visit site
taiwan said:
Just noticing how Wiggins rode out the utter ridicule he received on this forum in 2010, and is now a highly rated GT contender.

He's earned more respect, that's for sure, but I wouldn't get too carried away just yet. :D

I voted BMC. Of course, that's entirely conditional on their working as a team. If they can do that, the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts - and the parts are already pretty immense. This could just as easily work against them, too, in which case we're in for a huge disappointment. But I'll be optimistic and say they're going to be amazing.
 
Sky maybe have the best depth but ( most of the users on this forum associate with the riders as their is so much coverage of them ).
I think at any big race BMC will have a better team ( with a better winning mentality ) Classics and GT wise. Sky will however have teams of good calibre at other races.
BMC shall have it's young guns ( who may have been brought from other teams but are still young enough to be considered BMC's ) TJVG, Blythe and the others to fire. Frank, Kohler and Santambrogio shall have better seasons as well.
Sky took a while to build their team ( Wiggins poached from Garmin, EBH from HTC, Porte now from Saxo ) so both teams are similar.

BMC, Sky, RSNT, Movistar ( it would be better with Tondo/ Soler ) and Rabo. Liquigas look a good chance to win at least one GT.
 
taiwan said:
Just noticing how Wiggins rode out the utter ridicule he received on this forum in 2010, and is now a highly rated GT contender.

He's highly rated GT wise but no one liked his comparison of Garmin to Wigan and no one liked how he did not acknowledge Froome as leader at the Vuelta. Next year he stands a great chance at the TDF with the ITT km.
 
It's a pity 3 of the teams I disliked in 2011 are the 3 strongest teams in 2012. BMC, SKY and Shack.

Since 2 of my favourite riders Gilbert and Hushovd are at BMC I'll be rooting for them more this year.

Voted for BMC thinking Hushovd will win PR, and Gilbert will win Ronde. Not a bad stage race team either.

Hopefully teams I like such as Euskatel ,Saxo and Movistar can have good seasons.
 

TRENDING THREADS