Team Ratings & Team of the Tour

RichN95.
RichN95. Posts: 27,137
edited July 2017 in Pro race
On several Tours I've given ratings to teams and people have liked it, so here we go again. I'm adding a nine man team of the Tour.

A Grade
SUNWEB- Sensational. Four stage wins. Green. Polka dots. They also won the Giro. Amazing.
SKY - They won. Again. They also won the team competition and a stage with Thomas. A true team effort
QUICK STEP - It was all about Kittel and he won five stages. Martin was a bonus

B Grade
CANNONDALE - Often the butt of jokes, a stage win and second place is beyond their wildest dreams
BORA - Sagan won a stage before he got kicked off unfairly. Bodnar provided a surprise win
DIRECT ENERGIE - Calmajane stage win and a couple of combativity awards is good for a wildcard team who left their best rider at home
AG2R - Clung on to a podium (maybe). Won a stage. They rode well as a team.
LOTTO JUMBO - Roglic won a stage. Edit: Upgraded to B after winning in Paris

C Grade
ORICA - They had they modest ambition of winning the White Jersey. The achieved it.
FDJ - Remember Demare won a stage. Probably not.
DIMENSION DATA - A Tour single handedly saved by Edvald Boasson Hagen
TREK - Mollema won a stage and Contador got a couple of nostalgic combativity awards
WANTY - Got three combativity awards, which is why they are here
ASTANA - Hard year. Got a stage win and a decent GC finish and a couple of days in yellow.

D Grade
BMC - So Caruso almost got in the top ten after Porte's crash. No stage win though
UAE - A couple of combativity awards and a top ten. But anonymous
LOTTO SOUDAL - Lots of blow, no show
FORTUNEO - Did the little that was expected of them

E Grade
MOVISTAR - A really good team having a stinker. Still Betancur looked like a cyclist
COFIDIS - Wither Bouhanni?

F Grade
BAHRAIN - Let's hope they don't treat their cyclists like they treat their journalists
KATUSHA - Money can't buy you love. And Kristoff's hair looks awful in that advert.


Team of the Tour
Leader - Froome (just ahead of Uran)
Sprinters -Kittel, Matthews
Attacker -Barguil
Climber - Landa
Domestiques - Kwiatkowski, Naesen, Vermote
Fighter - D.Martin
Twitter: @RichN95
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Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    Feel free to disagree
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RonB
    RonB Posts: 3,984
    Good call. AG2R must have been close to the A step following some decent tactics during the past weeks, and I hope Simon Geschke was close to joining your Team of the Tour.
  • wombly_knees
    wombly_knees Posts: 657
    Would bump UAE up to C but just behind orica.

    Also, just my opinion, but I don't think direct energie would've won a stage if they'd brought Coquard along.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    Would bump UAE up to C but just behind orica.

    Show your workings.

    Meintjes has had a decent race, but has anyone else seen a UAE rider at the business end of a stage?
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    I'd give BMC an E, especially given their budget and roster. Van Avermaet showed up on one stage, the rest of the team have been anonymous and, as always, their tactics have caused a lot of head scratching. Take the Belles Filles stage, why did they ride all day, only to leave Porte alone on the final climb? Or Friday, where de Marchi closed down the initial breakaway because there was no BMC rider in it, the next (race winning) break went almost immediately but no one from BMC managed to be in it.

    They are a collection of individuals, not a team.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    I'm also prepared to make a case for Bora to get an A. They've lost their two leaders, but have still been present day after day and tried to get something out of this race. I think two stage wins is an amazing return given they lost their best rider on stage 4 and their second best rider on stage 9.
  • wombly_knees
    wombly_knees Posts: 657
    andyp wrote:
    Would bump UAE up to C but just behind orica.

    Show your workings.

    Meintjes has had a decent race, but has anyone else seen a UAE rider at the business end of a stage?
    No different to Orica, then. Also, Ulissi and Atapuma have been second. That's better than Orica's support cast.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,719
    Can't really takeexception to any of Rich's picks but I'd like Contador in there for animating at least a couple of stages and I guess it'd have to be as either attacker or fighter.

    I also want Bardet in there - for me Bardet and for a while Aru were the riders that took the race to Froome and while Aru faded Bardet sustained some sort of challenge up until his collapse in the time trial. I suppose I could put Bardet in as leader but on balance I think Froome has to stay and I have to keep Barguil in so the unlucky riders are going to be Martin and Naesen.


    So my team
    Leader - Froome
    Sprinters - Kittel/Matthews
    Attacker - Contador
    Climber - Barguil
    Fighter - Bardet
    Doms - Landa/Kwiatkowski/Vermote
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • w00dster
    w00dster Posts: 880
    Yeah BMC were disappointing, but similar to Sky when Froome crashed in 2014.
    After Porte crashed out, what would people have wanted BMC to do different? That was a team built around Porte. Maybe they could have switched to stage wins like Sky in 2017 Giro, sending Roche or Caruso up the road and De Marchi going for the win? Would the peloton have allowed that to happen? I've been disappointed in Roche, but I think that is partly because I had such high hopes for a Sky BMC show down.
    Genuine question, be interesting to know what people think BMC could have done anything different after Porte crashed out.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    andyp wrote:
    Would bump UAE up to C but just behind orica.

    Show your workings.

    Meintjes has had a decent race, but has anyone else seen a UAE rider at the business end of a stage?
    No different to Orica, then. Also, Ulissi and Atapuma have been second. That's better than Orica's support cast.

    Orica have won one of the four classifications though, which is arguably equivalent to a stage win. I'd imagine a sponsor would be very happy with the exposure that brings.

    I'd forgotten about Atapuma's ride on the Izoard, that might have snuck them on to a C minus.
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,851
    edited July 2017
    When Growenwagan wins today, that should promote Jumbo to a B and relegate Direct Energie.

    Remember Jumbo lost Hesink before he got into his stage winning stride in the race, so maybe they should be above Bora as well.
    Half man, Half bike
  • ridgerider
    ridgerider Posts: 2,851
    And not sure how to differentiate between grades D, E and F. Shouldn't they all just get a 'Fail'?
    Half man, Half bike
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    Ridgerider wrote:
    And not sure how to differentiate between grades D, E and F. Shouldn't they all just get a 'Fail'?
    A combination of effort made, luck and expectation.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    RichN95 wrote:
    QUICK STEP - It was all about Kittel and he won five stages. Martin was a bonus

    It was all Kittel though really wasn't it. Not a team effort.
    BORA - Sagan won a stage before he got kicked off unfairly. Bodnar provided a surprise win.
    Again only Bodnar and Sagan, not a team effort. They were anonymous for most of the race.
    ORICA - They had they modest ambition of winning the White Jersey. The achieved it.
    Apart from Yates they were completely anonymous. I couldn't tell you one other person riding on that team this Tour.
    FORTUNEO - Did the little that was expected of them
    Who are they?
    COFIDIS - Wither Bouhanni?
    They were at least more 'active' then Bora. Orica and this Fortuneo team that I simply cannot even remember.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • The_Boy
    The_Boy Posts: 3,099
    List is fundamentally sound to me. I do think that barguil was far and away the best climber in the race tho.

    Won a stage attacking out of the favorites' group, and another from a breakaway containing contador, quintana and landa. Plus his near miss was from a group of favorites after he'd spent the day out front.

    Other than that he was consistently hanging with the big favorites throughout the mountains all race with the exception of the two stages he took a packet on in order to concentrate on stage hunting.
    Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy
  • N0bodyOfTheGoat
    N0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 5,834
    Derny of the tour: De Ghent ;)
    ================
    2020 Voodoo Marasa
    2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
    2016 Voodoo Wazoo
  • Wanty have been my favourite of the tour, particularly in the earlier stages. It's great to see smaller teams getting exposure and taking it to the bigger stars. All 9 riders still in the race as well.
  • RonB
    RonB Posts: 3,984
    RichN95 wrote:
    QUICK STEP - It was all about Kittel and he won five stages. Martin was a bonus

    FORTUNEO - Did the little that was expected of them
    Who are they?

    Brice Feillu 16th on GC. Always have a soft spot for the guy after seeing his Bretagne - Séché Environnment team's utter bewilderment at the culinary delights of West Yorkshire before the 2104 Grand Depart.
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    As The_Boy says, climber has to be Barguil.
    Also think Ron8’s suggestion of Genchke and deVlaeminck’s suggestion of Contador both legitimate inclusions.

    And any team should surely include a ‘rouleur’, non? Thus a place for De Gendt even though he didn’t pull it off this Tour.
  • The_Boy
    The_Boy Posts: 3,099
    RonB wrote:
    before the 2104 Grand Depart.

    Will this event be taking place in the same parallel universe which saw the 2014 Paris Olympics?
    Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    If you were to base the team grading on money earned so far, i.e. before the final handouts later today, then Lotto-Soudal (D-grade in the list here) deserve a lot more recognition – they are currently 5th top earners of the Tour, they have taken in more than any of the B-grade teams.

    A bit similar for Katusha (F-grade here) - even if they’ve earned relatively little, it’s still more than Orica (C-grade) have managed.
    (These are the two most noticeable ranking differences, comparing RichN95's assessments with team earnings up to last night)

    I think Katusha are the only team riding with Sram, in case that explains anything (I hope not, as I do too).
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    knedlicky wrote:
    As The_Boy says, climber has to be Barguil.
    They were just labels I picked fairly randomly to illustrate picking a balanced team covering most aspects. It's not a hard and fast system.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    knedlicky wrote:
    If you were to base the team grading on money earned so far, i.e. before the final handouts later today, then Lotto-Soudal (D-grade in the list here) deserve a lot more recognition – they are currently 5th top earners of the Tour, they have taken in more than any of the B-grade teams.

    A bit similar for Katusha (F-grade here) - even if they’ve earned relatively little, it’s still more than Orica (C-grade) have managed.
    (These are the two most noticeable ranking differences, comparing RichN95's assessments with team earnings up to last night)

    I think Katusha are the only team riding with Sram, in case that explains anything (I hope not, as I do too).
    I'm assuming though that the GC and jersey prizes haven't been added in yet
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    Upgrade for Lotto-Jumbo?
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  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    Upgrade for Lotto-Jumbo?
    I've already done it
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RonB
    RonB Posts: 3,984
    The_Boy wrote:
    RonB wrote:
    before the 2104 Grand Depart.

    Will this event be taking place in the same parallel universe which saw the 2014 Paris Olympics?

    :D
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    RichN95 wrote:
    Upgrade for Lotto-Jumbo?
    I've already done it

    :-D
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    I don't get the Contador love. He was in the race as a team leader, a GC contender, and he failed miserably. He shouldn't get within a mile of a 'team of the race'.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,217
    As AtC said, QS weren't worth an A, a B would be generous. The days they tried to boss the finish for Kittel were his worst stages and even if they were there with Kittel as their main man surely Dan has enough GC history to have deserved some support?
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    Pross wrote:
    As AtC said, QS weren't worth an A, a B would be generous. The days they tried to boss the finish for Kittel were his worst stages and even if they were there with Kittel as their main man surely Dan has enough GC history to have deserved some support?
    Kittel won five stages. They came for stage wins. And they got five. One, two, three, four, five stages.
    Twitter: @RichN95