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Samu Cuenca

Samu Cuenca

Sep 26, 2020
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tobydawq said:
I don't think it would be a good story. If they did have a level worthy of participation, sure, but they don't.
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It wouldn't kill me to see a one-off appearance by a team that hadn't qualified on merit. I wouldn't like to see it in the Tour de France though, unless they increased the number of teams by one for that particular edition, so they didn't take that spot away from other teams. That said, NN has probably been around for so long now that it's too late to invite them in such a way. But still my enjoyment of and rating of a GT are not determined by the level of the worst team in it.
 
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tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
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Samu Cuenca said:
It wouldn't kill me to see a one-off appearance by a team that hadn't qualified on merit. I wouldn't like to see it in the Tour de France though, unless they increased the number of teams by one for that particular edition, so they didn't take that spot away from other teams. That said, NN has probably been around for so long now that it's too late to invite them in such a way. But still my enjoyment of and rating of a GT are not determined by the level of the worst team in it.
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You can go back and watch the 2004 Tour with a special eye on the RAGT Semences team.
 
Netserk

Netserk

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Devil's Elbow said:
Surely we've established by this point that that poster is either a troll or mentally challenged? In both cases, no point in trying to reason with them.
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Probably neither. I have a more specific category in mind, but whether one wants to label him or not, I think it's better to ignore him than react with animosity to what are fairly innocuous posts.
 
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Skijumper Roglic fan

Aug 28, 2021
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tobydawq said:
Why do you so often say crap like this? Of course you wouldn't enjoy seeing Novo Nordisk at the Tour.
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In recent times, I more and more take pleasure in watching the „underdogs“ achieving amazing things.

Every race won by Visma, UAE or Soudal-QS, that cannot be everything.

I know Novo Nordisk would have a hard time at the Tour, but could bring a few riders to Paris… Plus, create awareness for their core issue, diabetes in highest level endurance sports… :)
 
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Skijumper Roglic fan

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Devil's Elbow said:
Surely we've established by this point that that poster is either a troll or mentally challenged? In both cases, no point in trying to reason with them.
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Yeah, after almost 27 years of following pro cycling closely, I every now and then could feel at least a little bit mentally challenged… ;) Festina and Fuentes cases took their tolls… :)

But most of all, that‘s a sport of diversity, and I very much enjoy the diversity, here in the forums, also… Great thing that we are different, but share the same passion… :)
 
Eddy Evenepoel

Eddy Evenepoel

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tobydawq said:
You can go back and watch the 2004 Tour with a special eye on the RAGT Semences team.
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Dude, Calzati had 2 top 15s in mass sprints!!! (14th & 15th).
Otherwise they actually had a rider in the top 50 on some of the harder stages and their best GC rider managed to get a top 75.

The only good thing was that they managed to get with 8 out of 9 rider to Paris.
 
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Devil's Elbow

Devil's Elbow

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Eddy Evenepoel said:
Dude, Calzati had 2 top 15s in mass sprints!!! (14th & 15th).
Otherwise they actually had a rider in the top 50 on some of the harder stages and their best GC rider managed to get a top 75.

The only good thing was that they managed to get with 8 out of 9 rider to Paris.
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Worth pointing out that they somehow had a TT1 license in 2004, the top class at the time. The current system is far from perfect, but thank god that there is some kind of merit to the WT license allocation now so that that kind of *** isn't possible anymore.
 
roundabout

roundabout

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ingsve said:
Why single out that year? RAGT was just the Jean Delatour team with a new sponsor and they had won stages in the Tour the two previous years so they more than delivered on their invites on several occasions.
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Jean Delatour with most of the best riders from 2003 gone though.


R.A.G.T. in 2004 scored about 30% of Jean Delatour 2003 points (the points system stayed roughly the same).

It's probably not unreasonable to say that R.A.G.T. were the worst team invited to the Tour in the last 25 years at least.
 
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staubsauger

staubsauger

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RedheadDane said:
Honestly, regarding Novo Nordisk in the TdF; I'm not even sure it would be beneficial to their cause. Or if people would see them get their asses handed to them - and let's face it; they'd probably struggle even getting in the breakaways - and draw the conclusion that endurance sport and type 1 diabetes doesn't match.
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This basically.

It would end up like inclusion in Germany.

Disabled kids with demand for valorization getting completely shattered in normal schools, instead of getting special aid at special schools to be prepared for a sovereign life as adults!
 
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Roku

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I don't particularly recall RAGT Semences on that Tour, apart from Frederic Finot jumping in many breaks on sprint stages (though that memory could belong to his Jean Delatour tenure). However, based on the riders they fielded they weren't worse than last year Corratec (conti level) or Burgos BH on the first two years at Vuelta. The only difference is those two teams were extremely lucky to be gifted two winning breaks that somewhat distort their impact on the race.
 
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staubsauger

staubsauger

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Roku said:
I don't particularly recall RAGT Semences on that Tour, apart from Frederic Finot jumping in many breaks on sprint stages (though that memory could belong to his Jean Delatour tenure). However, based on the riders they fielded they weren't worse than last year Corratec (conti level) or Burgos BH on the first two years at Vuelta. The only difference is those two teams were extremely lucky to be gifted two winning breaks that somewhat distort their impact on the race.
Click to expand...
I had totally forgotten RAGT Semences actually took part in the 2004 Tour de France, until to my surprise I read it on Wikipedia in 2014!

I saw that Tour de France nearly entirely and still remember the Alpe d'Huez mtt!
 
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