End of Tour Team grades + Team of the Tour

RichN95.

I’ve done this before and as someone brought it up I’ll do it again. The end of Tour team grades.

A Grade
Sky - First and third. Two mountain stage wins. Predictably good. Four GT wins on the bounce. One of the sport's great teams.
Quick Step - Four stage wins and the King of the Mountains jersey. Their stellar season continues.
Bora - The record equalling sixth Green Jersey was almost a given, but adding three stages made it special.
LottoNL Jumbo- Two riders in the top five and three stage wins. Successfully balanced GC and sprint ambitions. A team on the rise consigning memories of Rabobank to the dustbin.

B Grade
Sunweb - Just miss out on an A. Dumoulin backed up his Giro with another second and the TT win, but little elsewhere as Matthews fell ill and Kelderman failed to start.
UAE Emirates- Two high profile stage wins and a Super Combativity prize is a tidy haul for an under pressure team
Astana - Two stages from Fraille and Cort is decent, but Fuglsang couldn’t deliver
Movistar - Maybe they should be a C considering the hype, but I’ll give them credit for a stage win, two in the top ten and the team award

C Grade
BMC - Still the kings of the TTT and van Avermaet shone in yellow, but you feel this Tour could have been Porte’s for the taking.
AG2R - Bardet was a little below par but Latour fought gamely to win the White Jersey. Lacked a stage win though.
Groupama-FdJ - Were on course for an E, before Demare’s stage win saved their Tour
Trek - Degenkolb delivered the most popular win in Roubaix and almost repeated in Paris. Not much else though.
Direct Energie- They are there to animate the race and win combativity awards, and that’s what they did.

D Grade
Katusha - Their four man team deserves a lot credit for lifting Zakarin into the top ten, but as results go, it’s not great
Fortuneo - They won a couple of combativity awards, but their star man Barguil disappointed, comfortably losing a two man battle for the KOM Jersey
Bahrain - A Tour of What Ifs. Colbrelli and Izagirre came close and they tried for the team competition. Nibali looked ready to challenge, but ultimately nothing.
Cofidis - Laporte almost won a stage, and that’s progress
Wanty - Martin gave the White Jersey a good go, but ultimately I forgot to give them a grade before someone reminded me of their presence.

E Grade
Mitchelton - They bet everything on Yates who never looked like contending. They alienated Ewen to do this. Even Nieve couldn’t magic up a Tour saving win
Lotto Soudal - They may well have just turned up with Thomas de Gendt on his own
EF Education - Their name helpfully offers a choice of grades. Lawson Craddock’s fundraising efforts were the highlight (and saves them from an F) although they did a good TTT

F Grade
Dimension Data - Whisper it, but Cavendish may actually be finished.


Team of the Tour
Leader - Geraint Thomas
Domestiques - Steven Kruijswijk, Egan Bernal, Jonathan Castroveijo
Sprinter - Peter Sagan
Wildcards - Dan Martin, Julian Alaphilippe, Greg van Avermaet

(For Dutch fans, Gesink, Dumoulin, Groenewegen and Roglic all came close. As did Rowe, Soler, Dillier, Latour)

ddraver

What happens when Tommy gets to a GT with a mountain domestique or two. Must be tempting for Sunweb to wave some Euros at Kruiswijk

No_Ta_Doctor

Wanty Gobert wanty a grade.

RonB

Probably unfair but :shock: that GvA was highest placed BEL rider after a three week Grand Tour.

RichN95.

No tA Doctor wrote:

Wanty Gobert wanty a grade.

Added with a D

No_Ta_Doctor

RichN95 wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

Wanty Gobert wanty a grade.

Added with a D

Fair. They went for every break, but that was about it.

Lanterne_Rogue

MS leaving Caleb Ewen behind looks even more ridiculous with hindsight, doesn't it? Fair assessments them.

the article don

What a sad turnaround for MTS after Chaves and Yates dancing up Etna at the Giro, to a rubbish tour and Ewen abandoning Ride London yesterday. Hope they bounce back

tailwindhome

You've been generous to Movistar and harsh on BMC
I feel like you've been harsh on Mitchelton too but can't say why.

EF Education have returned to their roots of a plucky team of scrappers and their marketing team are loving it.

https://twitter.com/ride_argyle?lang=en

"Whisper it, but Cavendish may actually be finished." - As I predicted, that generation are finished.

RichN95.

TailWindHome wrote:

You've been generous to Movistar and harsh on BMC
I feel like you've been harsh on Mitchelton too but can't say why.

Both Movistar and BMC were on the B/C cusp and they could have gone either way, but ultimately sport is about results.

You just like Mitchelton, that's why.

rick_chasey

underlayunderlay wrote:

MS leaving Caleb Ewen behind looks even more ridiculous with hindsight, doesn't it? Fair assessments them.

He wouldn't have beaten any of the top sprinters and he'd have gone out on the same stage they did.

rick_chasey

ddraver wrote:

What happens when Tommy gets to a GT with a mountain domestique or two. Must be tempting for Sunweb to wave some Euros at Kruiswijk

He did, he just crashed the week before the Tour and ruled himself out.

Lanterne_Rogue

Rick Chasey wrote:

underlayunderlay wrote:

MS leaving Caleb Ewen behind looks even more ridiculous with hindsight, doesn't it? Fair assessments them.

He wouldn't have beaten any of the top sprinters and he'd have gone out on the same stage they did.

Probably, but at least they'd have wasted their eggs by putting them in two baskets.

rick_chasey

Fortuneo should get an F.

Bahrain is an E.

Katusha E

Cofidis F.

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Fortuneo should get an F.

Bahrain is an E.

Katusha E

Cofidis F.

I'll show my working

I'm reluctant to give any wildcard team an F. If they do their job and get in the breaks on the dull days they deserve a D.

Katusha - I was just impressed by the efforts of just four riders to successfully get Zakarin into the top ten

Bahrain - I thought they gave it a go even once Nibali was out

But I'm certainly not the sole arbiter of grades.

rick_chasey

Yeah if you don't get a stage win you can't have more than a D, unless you have some seriously decent time in a jersey.

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Yeah if you don't get a stage win you can't have more than a D, unless you have some seriously decent time in a jersey.

For World Tour teams, I agree (excepting a podium finish). And if you win a stage C is a minimum (B for for a Wildcard team).

DeadCalm

I'd give BMC a B for GVA's week in yellow and his performance on stage 10, but otherwise a pretty fair assessment.

specialgueststar

Ag2R - lost Vuillermoz very early and were already a climber down (Geniez) . Latours battling was incredible. Bardet never gave up. Franck et al gave very good support C +/B-

Cofidis . Personally I thought they did well. Navarro and Herrada just couldnt get to their level. Worked very hard to get Laporte in position on numerous occasions - no mean feat - and finished with all men . Definitely a C

Wanty - top team on 4 or 5 stages due to two division 1 sprinters . (Rightly) Criticised for lack of support for Martin in first week at the expense of a bit of camera time. More support and that would be a C also

Direct Energie. Calmejane couldn't find his form - but tactically the DS played a blinder and the team were up to it .

Lotto NL definitely an A . Lotto Soudal see the head

DeadCalm

Rick Chasey wrote:

ddraver wrote:

What happens when Tommy gets to a GT with a mountain domestique or two. Must be tempting for Sunweb to wave some Euros at Kruiswijk

He did, he just crashed the week before the Tour and ruled himself out.

Yes. Add Kelderman and Oomen to this year's TDF line-up and it starts to look quite a bit better already.

ddraver

Rick Chasey wrote:

ddraver wrote:

What happens when Tommy gets to a GT with a mountain domestique or two. Must be tempting for Sunweb to wave some Euros at Kruiswijk

He did, he just crashed the week before the Tour and ruled himself out.

Well, question still applies...

DeadCalm

ddraver wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

ddraver wrote:

What happens when Tommy gets to a GT with a mountain domestique or two. Must be tempting for Sunweb to wave some Euros at Kruiswijk

He did, he just crashed the week before the Tour and ruled himself out.

Well, question still applies...

Kruijswijk is contracted to Jumbo until the end of 2021.

ddraver

Hmmm, Could Poels be tempted over for make glory of Netherlands?

yorkshireraw

ddraver wrote:

Hmmm, Could Poels be tempted over for make glory of Netherlands?

According to Armstrong's podcast he's on €1m a year (he said $ but assume it's €). Think that would be a bit rich for Jumbo or Sunweb.

DeadCalm

ddraver wrote:

Hmmm, Could Poels be tempted over for make glory of Netherlands?

Oomen is very soon going to be better than Poels.

tailwindhome

RichN95 wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

You've been generous to Movistar and harsh on BMC
I feel like you've been harsh on Mitchelton too but can't say why.

Both Movistar and BMC were on the B/C cusp and they could have gone either way, but ultimately sport is about results.

You just like Mitchelton, that's why.

True
And a degree of sympathy, Nieve and Yates were both so close to a stage win and had it snatched away.

knedlicky

RichN95 wrote:

Movistar - Maybe they should be a C considering the hype, but I’ll give them credit for a stage win, two in the top ten and the team awardreminded me of their presence.

Surely pre-race hype and stated aims shouldn't influence the grade? If it were to, Bora aimed to get Majka in the top 5 GC and failed badly (even if they did get more stage wins than they hoped for).

I think Bahrain-Merida too lowly graded – the team prize may not be regarded highly by many on this forum this year, but the Tour is a team event, financially it is a valuable prize, worth much more than the secondary jerseys, and Bahrain led this competition sometimes, finishing second.

I might have rated BMC and Trek a bit higher too.
In the other direction, I think there are 4-5 World Tour teams too highly graded, notably Sunweb (Dumoulin's great, but what/who else was there?) and Groupama-FDJ (despite Demare). Cofidis too highly-graded too.

dinyull

If Craddock saved EF from an F, surely qhubeka must save DD?

blazing_saddles

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

Wanty - top team on 4 or 5 stages due to two division 1 sprinters . (Rightly) Criticised for lack of support for Martin in first week at the expense of a bit of camera time. More support and that would be a C also

Indeed.
9 - top 10 stage finishes between them.
Must be worth a "C" surely?

coopster_the_1st

RichN95 wrote:

D Grade
Cofidis - Laporte almost won a stage, and that’s progress

I'm struggling to give them a grade as high as E. All I see Cofidis doing is denying a wild card to another Pro-Conti team and the benefits that would give that team and the sport of cycling in the respective country.

No_Ta_Doctor

Blazing Saddles wrote:

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

Wanty - top team on 4 or 5 stages due to two division 1 sprinters . (Rightly) Criticised for lack of support for Martin in first week at the expense of a bit of camera time. More support and that would be a C also

Indeed.
9 - top 10 stage finishes between them.
Must be worth a "C" surely?

I hadn't realised that Martin had been carrying a broken rib since the Roubaix stage. He hung on pretty well in the Alps. Most time lost was in the Pyrenees.