What was the last half of the 2008 season like for the 18 ProTour teams, and how did the whole year...
Mark Cavendish did the same as his team – dominate the season (Image credit: AFP)
What was the last half of the 2008 season like for the 18 ProTour teams, and how did the whole year turn out? As the Cyclingnews staff asked, "What went right and what went wrong?"
Here is part two of a team-by-team analysis, with the teams listed in no particular order
Team Columbia
What went right:
The second half of the season was pretty much like the first half: nearly perfect. Young sprinter Mark Cavendish continued to dominate, winning four stages in the Tour de France on his way to taking the most victories of any professional on the season, for a total of 17. Marcus Burghardt claimed another Tour stage win for the team, and Kim Kirchen wore the yellow jersey for four days. The team ended up the season with 76 victories, far more than any other team, with those coming from 17 different riders.
In addition to Cavendish, who had 10 wins in the second half of the year, fellow sprinter André Greipel scored eight victories. He spread them out from January to October. Young Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen had five wins in the later part of the season, as did Bert Grabsch. One of Grabsch's most prestigious wins was the World Championships time trial. The comeback rider in the second half was Linus Gerdemann, who successfully recovered from his serious injuries from a Tirreno-Adriatico crash to take five wins, including the overall title in the Deutschland Tour.
