Tour of California Grades: Pro Tour Teams

With the Tour of California gone for another year, Euro Peloton takes a two part look back at each team to see who had the best and worst performances during the eight day event. Below are our TOC grades for the nine Pro Tour teams. Tomorrow will follow the remaining continental teams from the 2008 edition.

Astana: A

The Astana team came to the Tour of California with one goal: Bring Levi Leipheimer to Pasadena with the leader's yellow jersey on his back. And the Kazak team delivered in spades. Levi won the TOC with an almost preternatural ease. He was never really in trouble at any point in the race, and dominated an extremely talented field on the flats in the time trial and in the mountains on the steep climbs. His team was sublime, controlling breakaways throughout the Tour, and neutralizing dangerous attacks on each stage. They'll take momentum into their other objectives for the season, whatever those may be.

Levi shrewdly managed the race and made it his throughout, thanks in large part to the excellent team supporting him

Bouygues Telecom: D

With exception to a late Thomas Voeckler attack in stage five, the Bouyges team was nowhere to be found for almost the entire Tour. Although they were a part of a few select breakaways here and there, they were consistently dropped when the pace racheted up, and failed to even contend for a win the duration of the Tour. Even so, they were a fan favorite amongst true cycling fans, so you can't give em' and F.

Little Tommy Voeckler was a fan favorite throughout the Tour

Credit Agricole: D

Like their French counterpart, the Credit Agricole team was seldom seen throughout the Tour. Thier top rider on the GC was Chritophe Le Mevel, who distinguished himself in a few breakaways, but like Bouyges they didn't really contend on any of the stages. Even their team leader, Patrice Halgand, dropped out after stage five. Maybe they'll have better luck in Georgia in a few months.

CSC: A

Unlike last year, CSC didn't have any of their riders on the final podium. But they did manage to have one of their riders in the yellow jersey, as Fabian Cancellera won the opening time trial prologue and wore the jersey for stage one. Sprinter JJ Haedo went good again the the TOC, scoring a win in stage one, and a second on stage six. Jason McCartney's third place in stage seven capped a great week for the CSC team, who delivered two of their riders into the top five on the final GC.

Cancellera gave his team their first ever yellow jersey in the TOC

Gerolsteiner: C

Gerolsteiner had the most difficulty with the virus that swept through the peloton for the duration of the week, as the team finished with only three of it's riders. However, young German sprinter Heinrich Haussler showed himself at the front of the bunch in stages one and two, before he took sick and had to abandon while the leader of the sprint jersey competition. They garner a C grade due to the fact that the virus really neutralized any chance they may have had to affect the race in it's second half. Hopefully the mineral water sponsor will extend for 2009, and the team will return stronger for next year's edition.


High Road: B+

Bob Stapleton's team had to struggle to get their win, as George Hincapie outsprinted three of his fellow Americans for the stage seven win. They thought they had the win in stage six, but their young sprinter Mark Cavendish was relegated due to an illegal car draft that he received from his team director Rolf Aldag after crashing on the way to the finish in stage five. Bradley Wiggins, Hincapie, and Gerald Ciolek each had second place finishes, suggesting that with a bit more luck, this Tour could have been an A+ for the young team. Stay tuned until next year, when the High Road team will return to the TOC a year older, and a year wiser.

Hincapie won stage seven, saving High Road's 2008 TOC

Quick Step: B+

Quick Step had an excellent Tour, putting Tom Boonen on the top step of the podium in stage two into the Capitol, and Jurgen Vandewalle and "il grillo" Paolo Bettini into third on separate stages. Additionally, Boonen and Bettini promised to return to the race in 2009. It was hard for us not to give them an A based on their promises for next year alone.

Bettini, Boonen and the Quick Step team stop in for some coffee ahead of the rainy Queen stage from Seaside to San Luis Obispo

Rabobank: A

Rabobank got a stage win the the 2008 Tour, and they came away with a jersey. Robert Gesink took the young rider jersey for the second straight year, and was the only rider who could stay with Levi Leipheimer on the steep ramps of the Sierra Road climb. Super sprinter Oscar Friere Gomez couldn't quite get a victory, but did show himself toward the front of the group well in a few stages. This team clearly has bigger objectives, as Friere will hope to take Milan-San Remo and Dennis Menchov will try his hand at the Tour de France overall.

Saunier Duval-Scott: B

Saunier Duval-Scott' TOC was made in stage six when Mark Cavendish was relegated and Luciano Pagliarini was handed the stage win. It must have been a bitter-sweet moment for the Spanish team, but a win is a win. They did what many other teams would have hoped to, and for that their Tour was a success.