Thread by @BenjiNaesen

The 2021 Men's WT season is over. Time to judge! 😈

I'll be covering the teams alphabetically, analysing their season performances & results, based on their team goals, philisophies and 2020 transfer strategy.

I'd love to hear your takes too. 😃

See the thread below. 👇

AG2R 1/5

Approaching 2021, AG2R stepped away from the Bardet-centered approach, and invested in O'Connor and a stronger classics squad. 💸

Turns out one of those investments had great ROI. O'Connor delivered a better TDF GC result than Bardet's previous 3 years, 4th. 👏

AG2R 2/5

AG2R's cobble classics squad did not deliver. Only a podium at RVV with GVA. 😬

Then again, it was common knowledge that GVA and Naesen were going to have a hard time competing with Deceuninck, WVA and VDP. 🤷‍♂️

AG2R 3/5

Thanks to his knee injury in the pre-season, Cosnefroy wasn't able to bring results in the hill classics. 🤕

Nonetheless, he delivered a strong victory at Plouay in Autumn. 🍂

Cosnefroy and Godon brought more than half of the team's wins this year. 👏

AG2R 4/5

Vendrame, O'Connor and Champoussin secured AG2R a stage win during each grand tour. 🇮🇹🇫🇷🇪🇸✅

I do wonder if they could win more GT stages if they didn't have the likes of Paret-Peintre hunt for a Top 15. 👀

AG2R 5/5

Honestly, AG2R lacks a second-row Laporte-like sprinter to secure some victories in 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 and 2.2 races. ♻️

Overall, a 3.6 Roentgen season for the team. Not great, not terrible. ☢️

ALPECIN 1/7

32 (!) victories. 🔥
26 of the 32 by MVDP, Merlier & Philipsen. 👑
14 WT wins. 💥

I wonder how much longer Alpecin can exploit the UCI rules to stay a ProTeam, because they're clearly one of the best performing teams in the world. 😅

ALPECIN 2/7

Mathieu Van Der Poel is not just an athlete, not just an amazing cyclist. 👀

MVDP is a one-man-army, generational talent, and an idol that will inspire next generations to pick up a bike and become a cyclist. 🦸👏

ALPECIN 3/7

MVDP's agressive riding style is a dilemma. Often too aggressive for his own good but said style leads to wins because he's not afraid to lose. 📈

On the other hand, his riding style is one of the most entertaining riders in the peloton. 😍

ALPECIN 4/7

Merlier is one of the best sprinters in the world. Alpecin could've had more TDF stage wins if they didn't use him to lead out Philipsen twice. 👀

Outstanding season for Tim, combining both top-tier wins, and low-end ones like Ronde van Limburg. 👏

ALPECIN 5/7

Philipsen, another great sprinter, though one tier under the likes of a Ewan, Merlier, rider-in-the-wheel-of-Morkov. 😜

Second-best sprinter at the Vuelta with 2 stage wins, numerous podiums at the Tour, boosted with multiple .Pro victories. 🔝

ALPECIN 6/7

Clearly talented youngsters like Vine, Bayer, Tullett (who's unfortunately leaving). 💪👶

I'm personally incredibly curious what Jay Vine will become. His comeback during said Vuelta stage, was was the definition of hype. 😍

ALPECIN 7/7

Combining all these factors, Alpecin-Fenix is one of the best teams in the world. Simple as that. 🏆

Overall, a monumental 2021 season for Alpecin, despite missing out on a monument this year. 😜👏

ASTANA 1/5

5 non-NC wins. 3 WT wins. 4th at the #Giro.

A team suffering under an unhealthy power struggle and a nearly-invisible Fuglsang. 😬

Astana's results are nearly as disappointing as the team's social media management. I have no mercy. 📉

ASTANA 2/5

Despite not playing a significant role in the GC of Itzulia Basque Country, Astana ended up winning 2 stages with legendary cyclist Aranburu & izagirre. 🔥

Additionally, they played a vital role in having Roglič win. 😂

ASTANA 3/5

Fuglsang's season was already poor, and became even worse due to collarbone and scapula fractures at the Benelux Tour. 🤕

Lutsenko rode a pretty strong season. 7th in the TDF. A strong Dauphiné with 2nd in GC, and a stage win. 🇰🇿👏

ASTANA 4/5

Meanwhile, Vlasov brought Astana 4th at the #Giro and shows the potential for a future grand tour podium... for BORA. 👏

Yet, the Russian performed disappointingly at La Vuelta and the Italian autumn classics, not sure how much his Burgos crash influenced that.

ASTANA 5/5

Losing Vlasov and gaining a semi-washed yet awesome shark Nibali, is not very promising for the team's future. 🦈💕

It's simple. If your team goes to multiple grand tours with a stage-hunting squad, and you leave with 0 stage wins... You failed. 🤷‍♂️

BAHRAIN 1/6

Arashiro's domestiques won 30 (!) races this season, all because the owner named the team after his horse... Victorious. 👏

Rumours suggest Vaughters has bought a horse and will rename the team to EF-Victorious. You'll have to take my word for it. 🤷‍♂️

BAHRAIN 2/6

Bahrain brought Landa as GC leader to the #Giro, and Caruso podiumed.

They brought Landa as GC leader to #LaVuelta, and Haig podiumed.

I see a pattern forming.👀

BAHRAIN 3/6

Mäder displayed significant progress throughout the last few years, but also noticeably across the span of 2021. 👏

As predicted, getting shanked by Roglič at #ParisNice was the best thing that could've happened for his public reputation. 😏

BAHRAIN 4/6

Mäder basically made the step from winning a GT stage, to being a GT GC rider. They grow up so fast, don't they. 😅

Haig displayed strong leadership skills at the #LaVuelta, after unfortunately crashing out of the #TDF2021. 🤝

BAHRAIN 5/6

Colbrelli and Mohorič converted the competition into apple sauce at the #BeneluxTour, by combining 'being the strongest' with numerical advantage, #DeceuninckStyle. 🔪🍎

Rumours say North Korea offered Padun a contract after his nuclear performance at #Dauphiné. ☢️

BAHRAIN 6/6

Mohorič, Teuns, Caruso with 4 more GT stages. 🔥
Colbrelli won a cyclocross race in Roubaix. 🤯

Meanwhile, Bauhaus was beaten twice by a 19 year old kid in Croatia. 😜

Absolutely phenomenal season for Bahrain-Victorious. 💯

In the end, Arashiro was the MVP. 👑