Which is the best French team

[pmcg76]

We all know the French teams are not the best but which team is the best of the bad lot in France and which will perform best at the Tour.

Take your pick from:

AG2R
Agritubel
BBox-Boguyes Telecom
Cofidis
Lfdjeux

Tough one right? I will go for Cofidis, No, AG2R, No wait, Lfdjeux, oh I give up................

 

[nobody]

I will bet on AFLD !

 

[Nastyy]

Depends on what do you think is more precious GC result, stage win or polka dot. AG2R has the best GC riders and Efimkin could very well do top-10 and the team will probably support him for it. If he fails they have many guys who could win a stage, Dessel, Gadret, Efimkin, Goubert and Dupont.
Agritubel will definetly go for the stages best chances are breakways for Feillu , Lelay and Moreau. Moreau could even go for the polka dot.
BBox goes for the breakaways and tries to win a stage. Rolland could chase the polka dot.
Cofidis goes for the polka dot with Moncoutie, which I think is the best contender for it. He will probably win a stage too while hunting for the points. Moinard was 15th GC last year interesting to see how he will do this year.
Francaise Des Jeux supports Casar in vain to get him a GC result.. They should ride for Le Mevel for GC or just ride for stages. Le Mevel, Casar and di Gregorio if he gets picked could all win a mountain stage.

I'm going with AG2R.

 

[BroDeal]

I vote that BBox is the most sucessful at getting TV coverage during the race. It will take three riders from each of the other teams to even come close to matching Voeckler in that department.

I am also making a long shot prediction: Voeckler wil be in a break on Bastille Day. I know it sounds impossible to make such a prediction this far out, but I am making it anyway. I feel lucky today.

 

[El Imbatido]

I am also making a long shot prediction: Voeckler wil be in a break on Bastille Day. I know it sounds impossible to make such a prediction this far out, but I am making it anyway. I feel lucky today.

+1
I wouldn't bet against it. I think they made this stage with voeckler in mind Because they knew they're is a 100% chance he would be in the break, along with 20 other frenchmen.

The best french team would have to be Ag2r La Mondiale. Hence it was the exact reason they were choosen for the Giro. They actually did shat all but, the tour is their game, so i expect they'll go for a top ten (or close to) + a stage if they can get it.

 

[Anonymous]

im realling trying hard to decide on an answer to this.. but the more and more i think about it, the more i keep thinking instead which is the best womens gymnastic team in botswana, or what is better, a peice of dry bread or a glass of stagnant water..

im struggling to get any enthusiasm up for a discussion on french cycling..

what i do find interesting is that of the two stages without radios, one of them is on bastille day... french winner anyone... and to think people accuse the aso of tailoring things to suit lance.. nothing like lack of radios to make a level playing feild..

 

[BigBoat]

what i do find interesting is that of the two stages without radios, one of them is on bastille day... french winner anyone... and to think people accuse the aso of tailoring things to suit lance.. nothing like lack of radios to make a level playing feild..

Ya. I like AG2R, by far the best frenchies. But Voekler is heavily jacked too.

 

[jaylew]

Obviously they weren't the strongest to begin with but the French teams took a big hit before this season, losing some of their best riders. Cofidis lost possibly its 3 best riders in Nuyens, Chavanel, and Monfort, FdJ lost Gilbert (Ironically, only one of those guys is French), and Crédit Agricole went away altogether

I'd say AG2R has the best riders, partially because they're more willing to sign non-French guys(Valjavec, the brothers Efimkin, Nocentini, Elmiger). Throw in Gadret and Dessel and I'd say they're the strongest overall.

I think Cofidis will be the most visible in the Tour, though. I think we'll see a lot of Moncoutié and I'd pencil him in for a stage win somewhere. Might be nice to see Casar battle him for the KOM jersey this year instead of going for the "best Frenchman" title and finishing between 10 and 20 on GC.

 

[wms.stoddie]

What about a mega french team with Efimkim, Voekler, Moreau etc and dump the rest. Then we could have Pettachi and LPR to spice up the sprints. Maybe BMC so the racemaster could be found out in th alpes.

 

[Outsprinted]

Ag2r - La Mondiale is the overall best team, they got strong GC riders (VEfimkin, Valjavec), okay sprinters (Mondory, Hinault), Ardenne Men (Nocentini, A Efimkin) climbers (Dessel, Gadret, Goubert) and other quality riders (Roche, Clerc, Turpin, Elminger.)

 

[craig1985]

Ya. I like AG2R, by far the best frenchies. But Voekler is heavily jacked too.

I was considered Voeckler to be the opposite. If he is jacked, then I suggest he gets a better doctor/supplier. Pierrick Fedrigo is usually good for a breakaway as well, and I can't rule him out of winning a stage or being in the stage 13 break.

AG2R for mine as the best French team. They seem geniunely interested in racing outside of France (they don't see the Giro as a chance to send all the neo-pro's in) and race all over the globe (they had a big interest in the Tour Down Under before it became a ProTour event).

 

[nobody]

Ya. I like AG2R, by far the best frenchies. But Voekler is heavily jacked too.

If Voeckler is heavily jacked what kind of word should we use with Armstrong, Contador, Schleck brothers, Cancellara, Leipheimer, and so...?

 

[karlboss]

I know I'll cop flack for this, but i think the french race cleaner than riders from other nations. Hence their lack of results. I think 4 teams trying so hard to be all french is too many, thins out the talent.

For the moment I think they should give up on GC and ride for stages and TV time.

 

[BigBoat]

If Voeckler is heavily jacked what kind of word should we use with Armstrong, Contador, Schleck brothers, Cancellara, Leipheimer, and so...?

Seriously JACKED through the stratosphere, launching towards Mars, maybe Jupiter.

 

[nobody]

Seriously JACKED through the stratosphere, launching towards Mars, maybe Jupiter.

Jacked... jaked... are you referreing to the swimming suit jaked?

 

[Peloton94]

Cofidis rider; David Moncoutié is my favourite to the polka-dot jersey this year so i'm gonna have to say Cofidis. The weakest french team is definitely F'd'jeux

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

So while we're here . . . may I ask, WTF happened to French cycling anyway? Why have they not produced a single top-tier road racer since the mid-90s? Why can they still turn out good mountain bikers and track racers, but nobody on the road?

 

[mr. tibbs]

Since cycling is all about looking good, I'm gonna have to go with Cofidis b/c of their sharp kits.

 

[nobody]

So while we're here . . . may I ask, WTF happened to French cycling anyway? Why have they not produced a single top-tier road racer since the mid-90s? Why can they still turn out good mountain bikers and track racers, but nobody on the road?

Easy....just look at who tested positive in the past few years: Italians, Spanish, Americans, Danish,.... but no French..

Difficult to be competitive against people with the big boost given by EPO or blood transfusion.
A EPOed Bassons would have won 8 TDF in a row too..

 

[39*23t]

haven't the french been on the bio passport thing longer than anyone else? uci only introduced it to pro tour once the rest had found a way around it

 

[BroDeal]

So while we're here . . . may I ask, WTF happened to French cycling anyway? Why have they not produced a single top-tier road racer since the mid-90s? Why can they still turn out good mountain bikers and track racers, but nobody on the road?

Hinault recently had some comments about the state of french cycling. He basically blamed it on laziness and discounted the doping argument. Although I think the french look too satisfied with being the highest placed frenchman rather than the highest placed rider period, I don't give a lot of credence to Hinault's thoughts on doping. He has always downplayed its role in the sport.

It seems unlikely that the decline in french cycling just happened to coincide with the country getting tough on doping. The best riders, like Jalabert and Virenque, moved out of the country and continued to win.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

It seems unlikely that the decline in french cycling just happened to coincide with the country getting tough on doping.

Yeah; although I think there are other factors involved, the sheer data on doping positives from the past five years would seem to bear the "cycling at two speeds" argument out. Too bad nobody wants to give them credit for it -- I guess everybody hates to see a Frenchman on a moral high-horse!

 

[craig1985]

Easy....just look at who tested positive in the past few years: Italians, Spanish, Americans, Danish,.... but no French..

Difficult to be competitive against people with the big boost given by EPO or blood transfusion.
A EPOed Bassons would have won 8 TDF in a row too..

That doesn't sound right to me.

 

[BigBoat]

That doesn't sound right to me.

Bassons had talent but he wouldnt...might not have won a Grand Tour. Depends on how well you respond to drug therapy. His V02 max was 85.

 

[cyclingworld]

I'll go wth just Agritubel!


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