Team High Road WTF

• Cavendish is looking to be the next big thing among sprinters.  he's mixed in some great finishes with some brain farts  (Stages 2 & 6 in California and G-W).
• HR also has some good B race wins from some of their lesser sprinters.
• Kirchen is having a very very good season.  Jury's out on his GC chances later this summer.

-Hincapie is having his normal bad luck.

• Ciolek has been hurt and luckless too.
• Siutsou looks like he's the winner in Georgia, a good B-grade stage race.

I think they will cool down some now that the classics are over mostly, at least until Germany, but we'll see.

But they have won a boatload of other races and when you consider the ageprofile of the team that is pretty farging admirable. These are mostly guys who shouldn't be hitting their GT/monument-winning prime for another 4-5 years so it's way above expectations especially given their injurylist. And if Hincapie hadn't been you know cursed and everything, they might well have a monument or at least a monument-podium as well.

Folks I am not putting HR down.  To me they look just like a team with a ton of young talent should look.

But you can't say, "IF Burghart, IF Gerdemann, IF Hincapie" and then say they are doing great. The plain fact is that some of the team has not come through. Some of the team has been very very good, prodigal even.  They have a lot of depth which shows in their winning various smaller races.  

The present is good, the future looks bright.

   They would be ecstatic because they are winning races.  Second places don't get much mention in the press.  So it matters greatly that they win.  BUT they don't have a real sponsor to enjoy their candy and nuts so they just go to waste.

...and to Team Type 1, which was third on the Team GC behind Astana and CSC - and ahead of all kinds of proven talent.

A great result for the first-year team.

Has them fourth, after CSC, Quick Step and Rabo. Rabo have been solid; Quick Step just ended their season; CSC are where they always are.

I'd say High Road should be where they are. It's just shocking to see them living up to expectations for a change (from their T-Mob days). If you look to see who's behind them, it'd be a little disappointing not to see them ahead of Liquigas, Caisse d'Epargne (arguable?), et al.

Also, can we create a new standard for team scoring: the Milram Line? It would work just like the Mendoza Line in baseball. Euskies, Saunier Duval and AG2R should all feel a little ashamed of being below the Milram Line right now.