Worst team of a GT winner

[Escarabajo]

Have to go with the 1989 Lemond team.

 

[Anderis]

Re:

Best I recall, Hesjedal's team in that Giro was pretty invisible. Most of the Giro Puritos team did pace setting.

Stetina was a big help to Hesjedal too. He finished 27th and Vande Velde 22nd on GC which are where you might expect decent mountain domestiques to be placed.

^
This.

It were Stetina and Vande Velde who led the peloton on Stelvio stage, otherwise De Gendt would've won, because Katusha for some reason didn't want to work. Garmin didn't do that much pulling on earlier stages, because Hesjedal was not that much of a favourite, until he dropped everyone on Pampeago stage, most of people believed he would crack at some point. But Vande Velde and Stetina were up there most of the time, that's why they finished in the top30 of GC.

+ They've won TTT (good old days when Vaughters' team didn't suck at TT-ing). It had double importance, because it put Hesjedal in position to take Maglia Rosa early in the race, so he raced at the front of the peloton avoiding his usual 1st week losses.

But the team seriously lacked depth in mountain, though. They had only 3 men in the 100-men peloton at the end of stage 5 and Hesjedal did some pulling on his own to defend Maglia Rosa for the team.

 

[42x16ss]

Astana 2009. How Contador didn't finish that race in a padded cell is beyond me, he has the tolerance of a saint.

 

[trevim]

Re:

Contador, 2011 Giro I think
Tosatto, Morkov, Porte, Klostergaard, Navarro, Hernandez, Didier, Gusov. He was always isolated whenever the road went upwards. Only Toso was a useful domestique.

Yeah that was the one staight to my head, so embarassing: Porte was only going for TT's and Navarro was so awful that year. I only remember Tosatto pulling on the intermediate stages, some flashes of Gustov in intermediate stages and Hernandez being the only Saxo rider on Giau before Rodriguez/Arroyo attacked.

Contador was stellar in pink though, he only had crashes and punctures to fear.

 

[trevim]

Re:

Best I recall, Hesjedal's team in that Giro was pretty invisible. Most of the Giro Puritos team did pace setting.

Stetina wasn't bad in the mountains and Vandevelde came around on the 3rd week, specially on the Stelvio stage.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Astana 2009. How Contador didn't finish that race in a padded cell is beyond me, he has the tolerance of a saint.

Yep, without a doubt the team that supported their leader the least that I've seen. Their riders were, on the other hand, some of the best, but were primarily focused on Armstrong

 

[TMP402]

Guess no-one got the Echoes memo:

WHY NO THREAD ON THE WORST TEAM OF A CLASSICS WINNER?

 

[perico]

Re:

Best I recall, Hesjedal's team in that Giro was pretty invisible. Most of the Giro Puritos team did pace setting.

He had Vande Velde and a (precrash) Stetina riding for him.

 

[jsem94]

Re:

Guess no-one got the Echoes memo:

WHY NO THREAD ON THE WORST TEAM OF A CLASSICS WINNER?

THEN MAKE ONE?