Why Flandria is the greatest cycling team ever
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCq3iCpk0L98c6gXMkawGBEMZWUdlmyCOGlih233SmdfBLyKZNi2sT0TsV6IQPZ5GEji5uIWyPou_PEzqPRW4oXL3lorNPx4keyPy5mjhpzIxx7Qle0sVwHDr5wBdhVZH8zBa_TznKQek/s320/Flandria+jerseys.png)
The greatest cycling team ever? You'll get a lot of debate over that one. Every era has its usual suspects. The 60's? St. Raphael (Anquetil/ Stablinski/ Darrigade/ Saint/ Riviere/Elliott)? Peugeot (Simpson/Merckx/Pingeon/Bracke)? Salvarani (Gimondi/Adorni/Altig)? 70's? How 'bout Molteni (Eddy Merckx/Bruyere/Swerts)? Mercier (Poulidor)? Kas? Bianchi? The 80's? The Dutch TI Raleigh squad (Raas, Knetemann, Zoetemelk)? Renault-Gitane(Hinault/Fignon/LeMond/ Madiot)? Or maybe LaVie Claire (Hinault/ Lemond/Bauer)? 90's? Had to be Mapei (Rominger/Museeuw/Tafi/VDB/Ballerini) or was it Miguel Indurain's Banesto? The past decade that saw Lance's Postal juggernaut morph into Discovery and then Astana? Or CSC/Saxo Bank? Well, I submit there's one team that rises above all on a number of criteria. Flandria . For 20 years - from 19 59 until it's namesake patron bicycle manufacturer went bankrupt in 1979 - Flandria was to Belgian cycling as the Steele