Road Bike Racing - Is Webcor really Chris Horner and not much else?

It was postulated on another thread that there really isn't much to the Webcor team outside of Chris Horner:


The Webcor team? As far as the Webcor *team*, aren't they kind of like Domina Vacanze? There's the leader, and then a bunch of other guys you never heard of, and really don't seem to do much. Well, here's an interesting analysis of the TdG results for the GC:

Final team GC (take top 3 for each stage):
1 Team CSC........................................ 77.05.17
2 US Postal Service Presented By Berry Floor...... 1.39
3 Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented By Maxxis. 5.42
4 Webcor Cycling Team............................ 9.27
5 Jelly Belly-Aramark............................ 12.08
6 Navigators Insurance Cycling Team.............. 22.16
7 Ofoto Cycling Team............................. 26.40
8 Sierra Nevada Cycling.......................... 27.35
9 Domina Vacanze................................. 28.07
10 Team Barloworld - Androni Giocattoli.......... 29.57
11 Saeco-Saunier Duval-Prodir/Mixed Team......... 34.26
12 Usa National........................ ......... 38.03
13 Colavita Olive Oil, Presented By Bolla Wines.. 40.07
14 Landbouwkrediet - Colnago.................... 1.06.42
15 The Jittery Joe's Cycling Team............... 1.08.35

Hmmm --- 4th. So much for a one-rider team. But this can be shown in other ways.
For example, if one adds the top 3 final GC for each team, one gets:

# team minutes
1 Team CSC........................................ 7.21667
2 US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor...... 11.8667
3 Webcor Builders................................. 18.1167
4 Jelly Belly/Aramark............................. 19.3833
5 Health Net Presented by Maxxis.................. 23.8167
6 Domina Vacanze.................................. 37.0667
7 Sierra Nevada Cycling........................... 37.35
8 Navigators Insurance............................ 38.7
9 Barloworld-Androni Giocattoli................... 40.0167
10 USA National.................................... 47.7
11 Ofoto/Lombardi Sports........................... 48.7667
12 Colavita Olive Oil, presented by Bolla Wines.... 53.0667
13 Saeco-Saunier Duval............................. 79.0167
14 Landbouwkrediet Colnago......................... 79.9
15 Jittery Joes Coffee............................. 84.95

Take Horner out of the equation -- add positions 2-4 within each team:

1 Team CSC........................................ 17.3833
2 Jelly Belly/Aramark............................. 26.4333
3 Webcor Builders................................. 30.1333
4 US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor...... 32.1
5 Health Net Presented by Maxxis.................. 35.1333
6 Domina Vacanze.................................. 56.35
7 Barloworld-Androni Giocattoli................... 56.6833
8 Navigators Insurance............................ 61.1
9 Sierra Nevada Cycling........................... 71.3333
10 Ofoto/Lombardi Sports........................... 77.9167
11 USA National.................................... 77.9167
12 Colavita Olive Oil, presented by Bolla Wines.... 82.2333
13 Landbouwkrediet Colnago......................... 95.95
14 Jittery Joes Coffee............................. 127.95

Take out Imanol. Maybe Webcor is a 2-rider team. Add positions 3-5:

1 Jelly Belly/Aramark............................. 33.25
2 Team CSC........................................ 34.4
3 Webcor Builders................................. 50.9833
4 Health Net Presented by Maxxis.................. 58.4833
5 US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor...... 60.3667
6 Barloworld-Androni Giocattoli................... 77.05
7 Domina Vacanze.................................. 83.5167
8 Navigators Insurance............................ 83.7
9 Colavita Olive Oil, presented by Bolla Wines.... 100.917
10 Ofoto/Lombardi Sports........................... 102.533
11 USA National.................................... 102.6
12 Landbouwkrediet Colnago......................... 113.75

Take out Dionne. Is Webcor only a 3-rider team? Add positions positions 4-6:

1 Jelly Belly/Aramark............................. 57.7333
2 Team CSC........................................ 58.55
3 Webcor Builders................................. 72.9833
4 Health Net Presented by Maxxis.................. 73.9
5 Navigators Insurance............................ 87.3833
6 US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor...... 89.05
7 Domina Vacanze.................................. 99.25
8 Barloworld-Androni Giocattoli................... 100.483
9 Ofoto/Lombardi Sports........................... 111.767
10 Colavita Olive Oil, presented by Bolla Wines.... 114.283


So much for lack of depth, I guess.

(Thanks to Dan C. for the analysis)

*SMACK*

In that same thread, somebody mentioned that it was easy to read a lot into a statement in print, i.e. you lack the intonation, body language, etc., that are sooo much a part of communication. You're really taking my statement to the worst interpretation. But, having it your way, who in this forum can name the other Webcor riders that have ridden to contest wins this season? (No fair googling.) It was also postulated, in general terms, that a very skilled rider might not get much attention, sitting in the shadow of Chris Horner. Search the web, visit their web-site and, yes, you'll find other webcor riders have some notable palmares.

I'm not sure how to intrepret Dan C.'s numbers, and what they mean. They do put a nice spotlight on JB/Aramark, and appear to indicate a very broad and strong effort by that team, whether you can name the riders or not.

No worries, mate! I was just trying to point out that, in spite of the fact that nobody's heard of anyone on the team except for Horner and possibly Dionne, they actually do have some good riders. I doubt that many people can name very many riders on any of the US Division III teams.

But I think you are right, the numbers indicate a high degree of depth on some of these teams. Probably more than one would suspect as all the attention is given to their stars.

If Horner is as good as I think he is, he will make the other riders better.

Road Buzz...I appreciate your comments. Sorry if taken out of context, I hope you can see why. I admire cycling as an overlooked sport in the U S A. where the various aspects are often overlooked. I get testy when people dismiss the riders that make the team work. They train and suffer as much or more than the leader. I mean just imagine being in a stage race, one of the latter stages, sub-par results for the team so far, totally wasted, and the D.S. or leader says...Hey Buzz, we need a break-away to soften things up, take off and give it all you got.....after you bring us some water.

Hey Buzz, we need a break-away to soften things up, take off and give it all you got.....after you bring us some water.

Dude, in my own small way, I live for it. "Let's go, get on my wheel!!!"
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