Worst line up for the Giro

[dlwssonic]

I would say it is better on paper than the Giro team.

But again it not an GC team for BMC to be a GC team Evans must ride.

But stage hunting and BB and TP will have a dip at the TT.

not sure about BB just coming back from an injury and is kind of a one time wonder and only can do prologues

 

[Mellow Velo]

On the subject of BMC, I still haven't seen anything with regard to why Johann Tschopp came in minutes down, but got the bunch time.
Can't have been a mechanical, surely?

BMC don't seem to want to buy in proven stage racers, preferring one day riders with some pedigree.
Consequently, they will often field poor quality GT teams.
They are not alone with this philosophy.

 

[auscyclefan94]

not sure about BB just coming back from an injury and is kind of a one time wonder and only can do prologues

It was Brent's first year of a pro last year of which he rode two grand tours of which he came 2nd in the giro prologue and 11th in the tour prologue. He also rode the giro and the tour after each other.

BMC must be the weakest team in pro tour. . . . they have evans who is awesome and then . . .

and they are no doubt about it the weakest team for this giro

What about Quickstep, Euskatel, AG2R and even Saxo Bank of which are very one dimensional teams. Lets be honest here, other than Nuyens who sucked wheel and got popped out the back at the ronde, Saxo really have nobody else other than Contador. Quickstep have boonen and chavanel. Euskatel have Anton and Sanchez. AG2R have a few alright riders but they have no big riders. This BMC bashing becomes a little formulaic and mundane. Find another hobby...

 

[dlwssonic]

On the subject of BMC, I still haven't seen anything with regard to why Johann Tschopp came in minutes down, but got the bunch time.
Can't have been a mechanical, surely?

BMC don't seem to want to buy in proven stage racers, preferring one day riders with some pedigree.
Consequently, they will often field poor quality GT teams.
They are not alone with this philosophy.

I dont think he crashed, otherwise the bmc website would have said so. must be a mechanical

 

[Parrulo]

It was Brent's first year of a pro last year of which he rode two grand tours of which he came 2nd in the giro prologue and 11th in the tour prologue. He also rode the giro and the tour after each other.



What about Quickstep, Euskatel, AG2R and even Saxo Bank of which are very one dimensional teams. Lets be honest here, other than Nuyens who sucked wheel and got popped out the back at the ronde, Saxo really have nobody else other than Contador. Quickstep have boonen and chavanel. Euskatel have Anton and Sanchez. AG2R have a few alright riders but they have no big riders. This BMC bashing becomes a little formulaic and mundane. Find another hobby...

the thing about those teams you named is (going by team)

quickstep: major focus on the cobbled classics, have boonen whom with canc are on a tier of their own in terms of cobbled classics capacity. have one of the best cobbled classics team. they also have a couple of good sprinters in ciolek and chicci. and have a few guys who can get into breakaways in GT's. and no i haven't forgotten chavanel who is turning out to be a great cobbled classics guy (mostly ronde but can also go well in roubaix) and is one of the best breakaway specialists.

euskaltel: focus on stage races and hilly classics, have real chances of wining at both with their 2 leaders. have a few good youngsters and even tho not a an absolute top level team they can send a strong squad to at least 2 GT per year.

AG2R: not the strongest squad and not very visible so far this season. but they have gadret who is good in the mountains and can perform well in GT's and have a steady improving GT contender (unlike a certain team who's better rider is a fading GT contender who is past his prime) fyi i don't rate ag2r above BMC they are at the same level.

saxo bank: first of all the they only have contador argument doesn't really go in favour of bmc as contador alone can win more and more important races in 1 season then the entire bmc squad can win in 5. they also have a monument this year against bmc's 0. then they have have good support team for contador with CAS, navarro etc. they also have a good sprinter who could win more if he had a train. oh and we are talking about a team that lost their leaders and some of their most important domestics/road captains last season.

bmc: they have a fading GT contender that still is one of the best hilly classics guys. their cobbled classics leader performed for the first time in 2 years and even so his performances weren't nothing out of this world. then they have GVA who is doing very well this season and seems to have a good future ahead of him. then they have a good cobbled classics team but with the lack of a really strong leader wins won't come and their team for the mountains/GT's is just . . . bad. oh and their sprinter is like 4th tier?

the reason why bmc is considered weaker then other teams is because they set high expectations whom they will never live up to. unlike quickstep who doesn't claim to have a good GT/hilly classics squad, euskaltel a good cobbled classics squad and ag2r who tbh doesn't claim to be good at anything.

still no matter how you put it bmc has the weakest squad of the giro and thats it

 

[Captain_Cavman]

I think every World Tour team should be allowed to not enter at 2 World Tour events each season(though they don't have to).

That open spot could be filled with 2 extra wild cards. Would be a good idea imo. Don't think Euskaltel would go to Flanders/Roubaix for example.

Although most World Tour teams would probably still enter all GTs even with this new rule.

How about if you divided the calendar into:
Spring 1 day
Spring Stage
Summer Stage
Autumn 1 day
Grand Tours,

and said each PT team has omit one of each of them form their calendar, BUT they can still be eligible for a wild card place.

 

[Ferminal]

It should be the right not the obligation.

Most teams will want to go to every WT race, for exposure and points.

Special cases like Euskaltel may want to overlook some events which should be allowed - it is their risk.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

bmc is really wak because they have a near limitless budget like phonak and for that money buy absolutely the worst they can have. and have a totally unbalanced team

 

[Kwibus]

The problem with BMC is that they lack a winner besides Evans.

They performed really well during the classics, but they lack someone who can finish it off. Don't worry... only a few teams can actually win classics in a year so it's no shame not to have won one. BMC just needs to see if they can get a good sprinter or another really decent GT or 1 week stage race rider.
Their squad has plenty of good riders and new talent, but they lack winners.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

It should be the right not the obligation.

Most teams will want to go to every WT race, for exposure and points.

Special cases like Euskaltel may want to overlook some events which should be allowed - it is their risk.

Yes but should all teams have that right for all PT races? Especially in cases where the line between those that are in and those that are out is incredibly fine.

The biggest teams would get to choose to enter almost every PT race. And if they were prepared to send a decent team to the others, they would get in them too.

The advantage would be that limited GT teams like BMC would only get into two GTs a year, allowing a place to go to a more deserving case.

 

[just some guy]

Yes but should all teams have that right for all PT races? Especially in cases where the line between those that are in and those that are out is incredibly fine.

The biggest teams would get to choose to enter almost every PT race. And if they were prepared to send a decent team to the others, they would get in them too.

The advantage would be that limited GT teams like BMC would only get into two GTs a year, allowing a place to go to a more deserving case.

a quickstep 0 GT´s a year

 

[El Pistolero]

a quickstep 0 GT´s a year

Quickstep usually does better in GTs than BMC.

Just sayin'

This year they will win stages at the Tour for sure with Boonen and Chavanel on the stage hunt. And Boonen won't be hoping for any bunch sprints to take that win

 

[Ferminal]

Yes but should all teams have that right for all PT races?

Yes.

But that is how I would deal with the current system. I don't agree with the system in general, but that is a discussion for another topic.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Quick Step always managed to win some stages in GT's. Is it not with Boonen, then guys like Pineau, Chavanel etcetera get in the right breakaway and win a couple ...

 

[Captain_Cavman]

Quick Step always managed to win some stages in GT's. Is it not with Boonen, then guys like Pineau, Chavanel etcetera get in the right breakaway and win a couple ...

Yes, they've got an incredible record really, considering they haven't had a mountain goat or a real speedster (Boonen?). 2009 was pretty barren but they've picked up a bunch of GT wins and jerseys in the other years.

 

[toolittle]

BMC must be the weakest team in pro tour. . . . they have evans who is awesome and then . . .

and they are no doubt about it the weakest team for this giro

Don't be fool.

They have TA & Tour of romandie victories and many top 10 in biggest races.

Even bmc end their season now, their team achievements are still good enough for top a 10 in World Tour.

Of course, if you doesn't count Evans...
But could we doesn't cancellera & Schlecks. Could we doesn't count Gilbert?

 

[toolittle]

a quickstep 0 GT´s a year

It is world tour rules.
That's why teams are fighting for pro team status.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

BMC and OLO aren't that bad, eh?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hehe

Leopard's is bad now with no Bennati. It's not so bad but is 2nd tier, just like every other team's. And i can't see them doing anything with the riders they have with their DS's. BMC, have options. Euskatel might win but no one knows their domestiques however. OPL suck badly. Rabobank have one of the worst teams too.

Best teams, AG, SBS, Katusha, Liquigas, Geox Lampre????

Without Bos, Rabobank doesn't look overly strong either.

Probably BMC have the worst line up for me, due to their clinic issues. Then Lotto, then Leopard or Rabo. AG2R have a hopeful for the top ten in Gadret, but that's really it. But then you could say the same about Sky, and others are around there too.

It's hard to see anyone who will feature in the teams of: BMC, Rabobank, Omega PL and Leopard.

Movistar would be on that list if Arroyo hadn't performed miracles last year. Sky have no real star, but I think they can do something.

Fun fun fun

 

[greenedge]

worst as in no top tier riders. No experienced ones and none of them will probably end up going to tour.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Hehe









Fun fun fun

I could do that to quite a few of your posts, Dekker T. Rabo don't have many big name riders in their team at the giro and have a lot of young riders which is why I made that statement

GO Martin! BMC POWER!!!!

 

[Publicus]

I would wait until at least stage 16 to start revisiting which team was weakest. Good on Rabo and BMC for animating the race yesterday, but it's way too early to start declaring that they are in fact a strong teams especially when the heart of this course is yet to come.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

animating the race? winning a stage and taking pink + white on the same day is not something every team is going to achieve, you can already scrap them from the weakest team list

 

[theyoungest]

Rabo totally owned yesterday's stage, so I wouldn't call that just "animating" either. But hey, they forgot to bring any overhyped Anglophone riders.

 

[roundabout]

Matthews would have been interesting to have on a stage like today's.