Which team was the strongest in 2014 GT-wise?

[mrhender]

This question can be measured and debated at several parameters..

Go ahead

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Astana by a distance.

 

[mrhender]

Sh!te...!

Can a mod please add Astana as an option in the poll??

 

[Afrank]

Sh!te...!

Can a mod please add Astana as an option in the poll??

Done. 10 char

 

[LaFlorecita]

Strongest team TCS.

7 stage wins, at least 1 in each GT, good GC performances and great domestiques, both in the mountains and on the flat and KOM at TDF

And it's of course the best team period

 

[Pricey_sky]

I think Saxo at the Tour was the strongest, had Alberto not crashed they would have caused havoc with the Peloton on those mountain stages. Astana were pretty strong in the Tour as were Sky at the Vuelta although that was made more because of the other teams being weaker. Movistar were also extremely solid but not to Saxo's level.

 

[mrhender]

Strongest team TCS.

5 stage wins, at least 1 in each GT, good GC performances and great domestiques, both in the mountains and on the flat

And it's of course the best team period

Hmm is it not 7 stage wins?

Two in Giro, three in TDF and two in LaVuelta...
(seven is the same as Astana btw.)

Giant-Shimano has the record of 11 while Sky has zero...

 

[Piti4Podiums]

Movistar probably the most consistent, had a lineup in every GT to control the field. TCS was just awful in this Vuelta, but Contador didn't need them.

 

[Afrank]

Damn, I can't decide between Saxo and Astana.
Saxo took 2 wins in the Giro, 2 in the Tour plus KOM, and 2 in Vuelta plus overall.
Astana took 1 win in the Giro plus 3rd overall, 4 in the Tour plus overall, and 2 in the vuelta.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Astana.

Irate the Aru/Nibbs combo as stronger than Majka/AC (Aru is stronger than Majka,while we can argue day and night about AC and Nibbs )
The rest of the Astana team with Landa, Kangert, Scarponi, Birdsong, Westra in the mountains aren't any weaker than the Tinkoff team.

The angel gives Astana the advantage

Edit: and I didn't find the overall strenght of Movistar to be that great, so they are on on a 3rd place

 

[Dr. Juice]

Movistar best team in the Giro with Saxo not far behind. Tour de France Saxo by a mile, then Movistar and Astana. Vuelta weak Tinkoff but strong Sky team ( Valverde did not have many teammates alongside him in the MT stages ). Astana always decent but not superb.
Has to be either Movistar or Saxo Tinkoff.

 

[Carols]

Astana, a first and a third on GC. Followed Very Closely by Saxo with Vuelta winner plus multiple stages in Giro and Tour.

 

[Netserk]

Tinkoff was better than Astana as a team in all three GTs.

 

[TomekA]

Astana, a first and a third on GC. Followed Very Closely by Saxo with Vuelta winner plus multiple stages in Giro and Tour.

Movistar in terms of GC places is even better: first (Giro) third (Vuelta) and fourth (Tour)

And two stages in Giro and two in Vuelta (including TTT)

 

[gunara]

The fun's always with AG2R, even when they sucked, they deserved at least a mention in the poll, even as Vino option.

Tinkoff for me, by some distance, their Giro was strong, dynamite at the Tour, Vuelta a victory.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Astana.

Irate the Aru/Nibbs combo as stronger than Majka/AC (Aru is stronger than Majka,while we can argue day and night about AC and Nibbs )
The rest of the Astana team with Landa, Kangert, Scarponi, Birdsong, Westra in the mountains aren't any weaker than the Tinkoff team.

The angel gives Astana the advantage

Edit: and I didn't find the overall strenght of Movistar to be that great, so they are on on a 3rd place

Agreed, that on paper, Astana is the strongest team, especially since Kreuziger was of no use for Tinkoff-Saxo in any GT this year. Fuglsang is, when in top form, on the level of guys like Nieve in the mountains. Unfortunately he was very unlucky in the Tour and didn't quite get to show anything else than great bike-handling-skills on the cobbles.

However, Astana didn't perform as the strongest team. In the Giro, they were okay, but weaker than Tinkoff-Saxo. In the Tour they were equally strong as Tinkoff-Saxo, and finally in the Vuelta, they were pretty much not present. That simply doesn't qualify as the strongest GT team...

 

[DFA123]

I went for Astana. They won the big one making excellent use of the team to gain Nibali the time on the cobbled stage, then completely controlling the race.

Aru's GC and stage wins show the strength in depth - although the rest of the team wasn't great overall in the Vuelta.

Was tempted to go for Giant-Shimano as they completely dominated the sprints, winning most stages they had a chance in, and also with Barguil's performance in the Vuelta. But I think a lot of Kittel's wins were just down to raw speed rather than excellent lead outs. And also sprint stages are pretty boring in general so don't want to encourage them too much.

 

[Jspear]

I see that most are picking between Astana and Tinkov. I would have to go with Tinkov and put Astana just behind them.

Giro- Tinkov was 3rd in the team classification - Astana was 6th
They won two stages to Astana's one.

Tour- Obviously Astana did well because of Nibali and they did do better as a team, GC wise (6th to TS's 11th.) Call me biased but Tinkov still impressed me more. With their gc leader gone they still won 3 stages (yes I know Astana won 4) and won the king of the mountains classification. They stepped up in a great way to get the most out of their Tour. I don't think you could ask anymore from a team that had lost it's main gc dude.

Vuelta- Tinkov placed 3rd to Astana's 6th in the team gc classification. Both teams had two wins. TS had the overall winner.

So TS definitely win in the Giro and Vuelta and (at the least) they put up a very good fight in the Tour (I would argue that they were at least as good - yes I know I'm biased. )

That makes Tinkov the winner.

 

[pigoonse]

1. Astana
2. Tinkoff-Saxo
3. Movistar

 

[murali]

In terms of pure consistency,
1. Movistar
2. TCS
3. OPQS

In terms of delivery:
1 (tie) Giant-OPQS
3 Saxo
4. Mov

on paper:
1. Sky
2. Mov
3. Kat

In terms of major disappointment:
1. Kat
2. Mov
3. Sky


Voted for MOV bcoz they were the only team in all my lists.

 

[theyoungest]

Sprints: Giant, by a country mile.
GC: Movistar, by a country mile.
Mountain stages: Tinkoff, by a country mile.

Ergo: apples and oranges.

 

[Akuryo]

Sprints: Giant, by a country mile.
GC: Movistar, by a country mile.
Mountain stages: Tinkoff, by a country mile.

Ergo: apples and oranges.

Pretty much so. And why has it always to be "GT-wise"? I know the complete season is not over yet, but still. Always polls for GT-related things. Best GT-rider, best GT of the year, best GT-team...

 

[Jagartrott]

As GT-wise is undefined, you can pick many teams depending on where your focus is. If it comes to where their best-placed rider was in GCs, Astana (3rd, 1st, 5th) and Movistar (1st, 4th, 3rd) would win. If it comes to victories, perhaps Giant? If it comes to depth in squad and consistency, probably Movistar. Et cetera.