Yep, but it would've been sh!t in comparison.

What is wrong with being sponsored by an oil, a gas or a mining company?

I am purely making the observation that all the teams with the colour green in their jersey have sponsorship by oil, gas, mining.  It's a funny coincidence.

I am purely making the observation that all the teams with the colour green in their jersey have sponsorship by oil, gas, mining.  It's a funny coincidence.

Sure, but I have read comments from you and others being critical of cycling teams being sponsored by companies like Argos and Orica.

Only early May but there season has been pretty much a success now. They have a GT stage win now so they don't need another one, even if they would like more at the Tour and Vuelta. Should make them more relaxed for the rest of the yrea which can only be a good thing.

Think it says a lot that people are not really posting about the win here.

no longer that much of a surprise, they have shown they are stronger than expected
they are doing their part in the chase and winning races

I almost completely disagree that they have been stronger than expected.
The one surprise to me is Gerrans MSR win.
Gerrans winning the Aus Champs and TDU is hardly a surprise.
Albasini has been good, but he is a good rider, he wins or goes very close to winning something every year. He also had some luck with that mountain stage was cancelled.
Durbridge winning a stage race decided by his excellent TTing is good but the race suited his strengths.
Goss winning a sprinting stage is also not that surprising, he has won a Giro stage before.

I think they were weaker at the cobbled classics than I expected, the crash of Langeveld hurt them there.

The main problem of there squad though has still to be exposed, that is that they are going to struggle when the road goes into the mountains in this Giro. I expect that their best rider in the overall is going to the weakest of all the teams, even Netapp. Barta and Brandle should finish ahead of all the OGRE riders. This is what is so disappointing about their squad.

So in summary their good riders, riders who know how to get results, Gerrans, Albasini and Goss have got wins, but it would have been a great disappointment if they had not during the year. Durbridge has done well also but I think he was also going to win something somewhere with his TT ability.

I think the Cav crash dramatics have taken away from what should have been a big moment for GreenEdge, winning a stage in your team's first ever Grand Tour is no mean feat. Sky did it two years ago but that was only a prologue, this is more impressive.

There were a lot of people who said Greenedge would struggle to win anything (other than the TdU) ... that they shouldnt be world tour and would not get in the top 20 in order to stay there.

I was a bit critical of them early on in the season, but they have come good ... and have done much better than many expected.   They were coming 6th in the WT rankings after the spring classics ... with 402 points.

The top 15 teams automatically satisfy the sporting criteria part of the UCI WT licence requirements, and while the actual points they use are different to the WT points, its a good indication of where the teams sit.

Last year, the 15th team was AG2R ... with 398 points.

So before the start of any GT, Greenedge already has more points than the 15th best team last year, and should by all rights qualify fairly easily to stay in the world tour.

That has to be considered a success for a first year team who was expected to struggle for wins.

I expected them to win a bit and I don't think they should be WT. Those are two different issues for me.

Why is it that a team MUST have a rider that is considered a GC contender to be worthy?  What is wrong with having a team that specializes in everything but hills.  They have won GC in three races already (obviously one of them was a bit lucky... but luck is always a factor).  There objectives are clear, they have not illusions about GC in GT's, they will try to win spirnts, ITT's, TTT's and then just stage hunt.  They are a factor at some stage in nearly every race they enter,  even if it is not for the overall win, unlike other teams.

As a viewer would I like them to have some 'GC contenders'? Sure i would... but that does not mean they are not 'worthy' without them. 

I absolutely agree.
The sprint train for the GTs has gelled together really fast, I think Goss will be up there in the other sprints as well. Not saying he'll win them all, but they'll definitely give Sky a run for their money - meaning the sprints won't be as one-sided as last year anymore.
And when the road goes upwards Impey, Beppu, Tuft and co. will go stage-hunting.

I mean, honestly, what do people remember the most? Which place Urán finished on in last year's Tour, or how Boasson Hagen won two stages? If you're going for maximum exposure, winning stages is clearly the way to go.

Yeah, good on him. Was a nice win in Slovenia.

did the world just end and no one told me  ;D

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/tour-de-france/orica-greenedge-turned-down-world-cycling-champion-mark-cavendish/story-fn948baj-1226406098269

;D LOL

That takes some mighty confidence to turn HIM down!  :o
Cav would have loved a full train at the Tour; instead he's just second-fiddle to Wiggo!  ;D

Please explain?
Why would a new Australian team trying to establish itself want to become Cavendish +8?
They've produced aussie wins and podiums and made a name for themselves instead of a bunch of tick marks for Mark.  As such the team won praise where otherwise everyone would be saying "Cav would have won anyway".