The Cycliste Moderne, May 18, 2005

The Giro d’Italia is now almost half over. We have had the prologue and nine stages. Tuesday was the first rest day. Ten stages and the big mountains are ahead, however, but this is a good point to give the teams mid-term scores on their performances.

A Liquigas-Bianchi. Liquigas has the pink jersey, two stage wins and three riders in the top 7. Is there any other score appropriate for this team? Mario Cippolini’s retirement was probably the best thing that happened to Liquigas. His departure opened the way for the rest of the team to shine.

A Ceramica Panaria-Navigare. The small Italian outfit won the prologue, the pink jersey and won Stage 4 as a result of Quick.Step’s Paolo Bettini’s stage disqualification. Typically strong in the mountains, Panaria could go home now and be happy with its performance.

A- Team CSC. American David Zabriskie has given the team a stage win. Favorite Ivan Basso finished second to Zabriskie on the time trial. Basso is second overall. But for his collapse on the finish of Stage 7 after his team rode hard to break up the peleton, Basso would be in pink now.

A- Quick.Step-Innergetic. Paolo Bettini has stage wins, Paolo Bettini has had the pink jersey, Paolo Bettini got disqualified for his bust up with Francaise de Jeux’s Baden Cooke. Only Bettini’s poor behavior on the podium after being relegated to last in the lead group on Stage 4 keeps Quick.Step from getting an A. The team’s performance to this point should be satisfying to sponsors and management

A- Lampre-Caffita. Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni have not yet shown any of the discord that the team had last year. Cunego and Simoni have ridden strong and smart, attacking when appropriate. Their time trialing leaves something to be desired for a team that has won three of the last four Giros.

A- Davitamon-Lotto. Robbie McEwen has won two stages and Henk Vogel nearly won one of McEwen’s stages. Two stages, one day in pink and strong showings in some of the minor classifications should make the Belgian team happy.

B+ Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team. Paolo Savoldelli has ridden a strong and smart race. The team unfortunately left him unprotected and exposed on Stage 7. The loss of Tom Danielson due to an injury is a huge blow to the team. The high mountains will pose a significant challenge for Savoldelli.

B+ Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team. Koldo Gil had a strong ride to stay away and win Stage 7. The team also has Michele Scarponi in the top 15 on GC. That’s a pretty good result for the team and probably all they can expect from their line up at this year’s Giro.

B+ Gerolsteiner. Gerolsteiner’s Sven Krauss is leading both the InterGiro and Trofeo Fuga Piaggio competitions. That is probably the best that the team can do with the riders it brought to the Giro. When you exceed expectations and have a lead in something, even unintelligible competitions like the InterGiro and Trofeo Fuga Piaggio, you get a B+.

B- Française Des Jeux. Baden Cooke has ridden aggressively and contested the sprints. He was just out of luck when it came to the barriers.

B- Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne. The best placed GC rider for a Spanish team is actually a Russian, Vladimir Karpets in 11th place. Having the best GC rider for a Spanish team, however, only gets you a B-.

C+ Phonak Hearing System. Phonak came with a team that would not likely contest the GC. The team has been active in break-aways but has not gotten any results. They will likely get a stage win before the race is over, however.

C+ Domina Vacanze. The Italian resort and timeshare people have two riders in the top 20. Serihy Honchar had an OK time trial but you expect more from a team that should be more aggressive.

C Rabobank. The Dutch team came without much in the way of expectations. Young rider Thomas Dekker has shown flashes, but in general the team has not shown anything.

C Selle Italia-Colombia. This team only shows up for the mountains. There have not been any mountains yet so we will just give the Columbian Italian out fit a C for now.

C- T-Mobile Team. T-Mobile came for stage wins. They have not gotten any. Matthias Kessler has shown some ambition and Zabel has tried to mix it up with the sprinters, but the Giro has been a disappointment for the team in pink.

C- Credit Agricole. Credit Agricole’s Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu has mixed it up in the sprints, finishing in the top five in several stages. Although Credit Agricole’s GC rider Pietro Caucchioli is outside the top 30, he is within five minutes of the lead and a pretty good climber. He should improve.

D Saunier Duval-Prodir. The team has a rider in the top 15 on GC, why does it only get a D? Because. They have long socks. Long socks get you down-graded every time.

D Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone. Cofidis is a disappointment, having brought a team that should be getting stage wins.

D Bouygues Telecom. This French team has done nothing of importance. Laurent Lefevre is in the top 20 on the overall but can you name any member of Bouygues Telecom? My point.

D- Fassa Bortolo. When you build your team around delivering the world’s fastest sprinter to the finish line for stage wins, you better actually get him to the finish line. Alessandro Petacchi finally won Stage 9, however, the team’s pile-up in the run to the finish was embarrassing and but for the Stage 9 win would have gotten an F.

F Euskaltel-Euskadi. What have the done? Exactly. The orange Basque team continues the most disappointing season of any team in the ProTour.