Footon-Servetto. The forgetten TDF grade.
People laughed at the flesh colored closet organizer boys before the Tour de France.
They didn't belong, their kit was atrociously ugly, their sponsor name was a hoot. But let's give the men in tan skin tones with the giant footprint on their chest a round of applause.
If you look at the team competition, Footon-Servetto finished 20th, ahead of the more well known and experienced Lampre squad and also the Milram team -- Milram being the German word for invisible.
In stage 7 to Station Des Rousses, Rafael Valls Ferri took an impressive second place. A week later it was teammate Aitor Perez Arrieta crossing the finish line in Bagnères-de-Luchon in third.
These guys got their giant black feet in the door of the Tour de France. They were not Footon fodder and they came far closer to a stage win than Cofidis.
Twisted Spoke overlooked their TDF grade but it's time to set things right. Grade: B-