2015 Tour de France Stage 5: Arras-Amiens 189.5km

[armchairclimber]

Cavendish was extremely gracious, post-race today.

 

[No_Balls]

Re:

Shame for Cav. today, but it's hard not to like Griepel. And Sagan showed blistering speed. He's immensely strong ATM.

As for relations with his team, he seems much happier thus far than he did last year, when he seemed frustrated and a bit unhappy all the time because he wasn'tt winning. Perhaps he enjoys not having quite so much pressure and being a bit more under the radar?

Why of course. At Cannondale he was the main fixture who was supposed to bring home the bacon and when he didnt do that the pressure rose both from himself and the surroundings. Here his main duty is to protect Alberto which, as far as media duties and internal pressure goes becomes far less of a burden for him.

 

[winkybiker]

Re:

Cavendish was extremely gracious, post-race today.

Any idea why neither he nor and Sagan were on the new Venge?

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Just got back and cant be arsed to read previous prints so I'm sure what I have to say has been said already
BUT
Just watched the replay.
CAV was PANTS !!
I was watching and thought how perfect his timing was . . wait wait . . . but . . . . . NOTHING ????
No CAV acceleration at all. WTF ??
Mmmmmm
Not good CAV. AND you cant blame yer team mates

 

[Happy dude]

"It was a bit chaotic," Cavendish said. "I went around Sagan and I kicked, and I saw Demare kick, and on his right Kristoff. So if I pass I could drag strip Kristoff into the finish. Greipel and Sagan just came around past me at the end. I didn't feel great in the sprint, but no one felt great after a stage like today. I was going OK, but they just were going faster. Nothing went wrong. We were a man short in the end as Matteo was not 100 percent after his crash today. But really I was just beaten by two very strong guys. One of them already won a stage, this is his second, and he's in the green jersey. So congratulations to Greipel as he deserves this victory. My teammates efforts today in setting me up for the sprint, and protecting Tony in yellow, absolutely complemented each other. I have to give them a lot of credit for how well they were going. We stayed in front the whole day and both objectives required that. Now we look forward to tomorrow. It's a bit difficult for the pure sprinters, that finish. But there are 21 stages at the Tour de France. There are still a few more opportunities. My confidence is good. I think everyone still has high morale after Tony's win yesterday, and I think for sure we'll keep going to try to get more wins at this Tour."
Read more at http://www.etixx-quickstep.com/en/news/show/tour-de-france-stage-5-martin-keeps-yellow-cavendish-3rd-in-bunch-arrival/2305#vQ5WsTIChvkoHVyC.99

 

[Andy262]

When HTC were dominating for Cav nobody got near their lead out train. It's just far more competitive at the sharp end of the race now and Cav needs to be cleverer.

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

People saying cav has lost it. He hasn't lost anything, Greipel has just been much smarter on 2 stages so far. Letting cav lead him out. And since they've both been headwind finishes. That was the correct thing to do.

But I do hope Cavendish doesn't apportion blame to his team again today. Yes they went too early again but he should've known that everyone would die in the headwind and should've kicked at 150, not 300

Really, he hasn't lost anything?

4, 6, 5, 5, 3, 2, 0 (as of so far)
These are the amount of stages he has won each tour in order from 2008-2015 (excluding last year of course)

How can you honestly say Cav isn't losing anything?
Did you watch 2009 Champs d'eleeys or, for an example where he didn't have a perfect lead out, 2011 World Champs? Seriously, the Cav of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, would have won both stages so far with ease. Cav was always the fastest, he didn't need a perfect lead out. His final kick was always so strong that no matter who was on his wheel, no one could come around him.

I think that saying Cav hasn't lost anything is one of the most ignorant thing's I have read on this forum.
(no offence )

 

[Happy dude]

Re: Re:

People saying cav has lost it. He hasn't lost anything, Greipel has just been much smarter on 2 stages so far. Letting cav lead him out. And since they've both been headwind finishes. That was the correct thing to do.

But I do hope Cavendish doesn't apportion blame to his team again today. Yes they went too early again but he should've known that everyone would die in the headwind and should've kicked at 150, not 300

Really, he hasn't lost anything?

4, 6, 5, 5, 3, 2, 0 (as of so far)
These are the amount of stages he has won each tour in order from 2008-2015 (excluding last year of course)

How can you honestly say Cav isn't losing anything?
Did you watch 2009 Champs d'eleeys or, for an example where he didn't have a perfect lead out, 2011 World Champs? Seriously, the Cav of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, would have won both stages so far with ease. Cav was always the fastest, he didn't need a perfect lead out. His final kick was always so strong that no matter who was on his wheel, no one could come around him.

I think that saying Cav hasn't lost anything is one of the most ignorant thing's I have read on this forum.
(no offence )

I never said that Cav hasn't lost anything my friend, but I don't think he has lost as much as people are trying to make out. And have you seen who he was up against in 2009? Hardly immense competition, and also, he had an absolutely nailed on leadout every stage.

He was always going to lose some kick when he got older, but the speed is there, and the two head winds and early sprints have just killed him so far, he just needs to start using his head more.

I also think that losing trentin on both stages had hampered the Hotstep leadout

Edit:yes I did say he hasn't lost anything, oops. But anyway ignore that bit

 

[JRanton]

Re:

Kelderman is having a lot of back pain issues. Worrying news for Lotto for the TTT with Ten Dam and Kelderman already heavily injured....

To have a nearly 30km TTT on Stage 9 after a week of classic stages nearly every day is utterly insane. I've seen a lot of stupid things in cycling but I think this tops the lot.

 

[AlexNYC]

Re: Re:

To have a nearly 30km TTT on Stage 9 after a week of classic stages nearly every day is utterly insane. I've seen a lot of stupid things in cycling but I think this tops the lot.

I've read many comments along this line; but I think I'm of two minds about it. Yes, it would suck for a GC contender to be punished by his team's bad luck; but it also accentuates the team aspect of road racing. I actually think this is preferable to TTTs at the beginning of a race since the attrition-fatigue combination acts as an equalizer of sorts.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Re: Re:

To have a nearly 30km TTT on Stage 9 after a week of classic stages nearly every day is utterly insane. I've seen a lot of stupid things in cycling but I think this tops the lot.

I've read many comments along this line; but I think I'm of two minds about it. Yes, it would suck for a GC contender to be punished by his team's bad luck; but it also accentuates the team aspect of road racing. I actually think this is preferable to TTTs at the beginning of a race since the attrition-fatigue combination acts as an equalizer of sorts.

I would suggest exactly the opposite. The best riders have the best stamina, and the best recovery. The best riders are riding further within their limits by staying with the peloton than the weaker. Bring the riders towards the limits of their capabilities, and those with lower capacity suffer most. The gaps wil lbe bigger by having this as stage 9 than they would be by having it as stage 3 (for example): differences will be extended, not equalised.

 

[jaylew]

Man, that was a long sprint from Kristoff. That guy is strong like bull.