• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Cav has McEnroe spat; Olympics "waste of time", "not top 10 of cycling achievements"

whiteboytrash

BANNED
Mar 17, 2009
525
0
0
Visit site
Mark Cavendish, the only member of Britain's successful track cycling team to fail to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics, has hit out at the nation's obsession with the Games.

Cavendish went to Beijing as the Madison world champion alongside Bradley Wiggins, but the duo's competitions earlier in the year left them weary and they finished ninth.

The 23-year-old from the Isle of Man had won four Tour de France stages in July, while Wiggins had already won golds in the individual pursuit and team pursuit by the time he competed in the Madison.

Cavendish, who will start the Giro d'Italia on Saturday with his Columbia-Highroad squad, complained that he failed to receive the backing he deserved from the British team.

"There's a lot of people that didn't win a medal, it's what I sacrificed to go there that hurt the most," he told BBC television.

"For me, the Olympics is not even in the top 10 of what you can achieve. It is quite important as a British person, not necessarily as a cyclist."

Cavendish cemented his reputation as the quickest sprinter in road racing with victory in the 100th edition of Milan-San Remo in March, putting him among the favorites for this year's green jersey in the Tour.

"This year already I've won six or seven races. If you asked a cycling enthusiast, they would say it overshadows what the Olympics is for an endurance rider," he said.

"But you ask the average member of the public in Britain and they'll look at you like you're mad."

Cavendish had vowed he was "finished" with track cycling after Beijing, but he returned to the velodrome at the track world championships in Poland in March and is set to seek Madison gold in London 2012 alongside fellow Isle of Man native Peter Kennaugh.
 
Apr 28, 2009
35
0
0
Visit site
Cavendish is in the sport to win - for him, second is not good enough.

As he stated, winning is addictive, and for the type of cyclist that he is, prestigious road events, with history, tend to take a higher degree of precedence, above a track based olympic gold.

Many people have heard of the the Olympics, less so, understand the various events that make up the professional road cycling calendar - (with exception of the tour de france).

Thats just fact, and is a common opinion, in a lot of commonwealth countries.

Mark Cavendish went to Beijing to win and it didnt happen.
His sacrifice, was leaving the Tour de France, and for him, that clearly hurt.

He presented his thoughts and opinions very well during the interview, and it simply highlighted his professionalism.

Perhaps "whiteboytrash" you might watch it before cutting and pasting junk comments.
 
I think Cav is right - IMHO one Tour stage is equal to one Olympic Gold Medal.

However, he does come across as slightly disrespectful to Chris Hoy and Brad Wiggins although I'm sure that was not his intention.
 
Mar 13, 2009
42
0
0
Visit site
Wow, that totally has taken Cavendish out of context.

He didn't have a spat, he was clearly devastated about the dissapointment of not winning a medal.

British people do thing the Olympics is the mainstay of every single sport. What they don't realise is that the Classics, The Grand tours etc are seen within teh sport as far bigger races. He was stating a fact, not having a spat.

I don't think anyone can mistake Cav, he gave up quite a lot to go to the Olympics. Clearly he was dissapointed to not come away with anything. Who wouldn't?

As for the interview, the most signficant thing that he said, that people should take note of - He got tested 64 times last season!! Not suprisingly he stronly supports the fact that Cycling is acting against cheaters - something that is inevitable in all sport/walks of life. His attitude is clearly positive and even though he has grown a slightly outspoken image, he was articulate, positive and is clearly a positive star for the promotion of Cycling as a sport.
 
Mar 11, 2009
748
1
0
Visit site
Stop bashing on the Cav... out of context it may sound bad. I don't think he meant any harm by what he said, he was just being honest about his goals.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
if hed stayed at the tour, got through the mountains and got some energy back, he had a shot of winning in paris..

stage on champs elysees v olympic gold.. no contest... but credit to columbia for letting him go..

and just while thinking that something has occured to me.. with ventoux on the saturday are we still going to see the traditional sprinters finish in paris, are the teams going to have enough energy after the day before... or could we see something very different...?
 

whiteboytrash

BANNED
Mar 17, 2009
525
0
0
Visit site
dolophonic said:
Stop bashing on the Cav... out of context it may sound bad. I don't think he meant any harm by what he said, he was just being honest about his goals.

The guy has to cool his jets. He can't go bashing the British public for their obsession about the Olympics. I mean FM the Games are in London in 2012. Of course the Brits are chomping at the bit for anything Olympics. Also what does this say about Wiggins who gives his all for his country at the Games ? I tell you what. Next time "Cav the chav" walks onto a track in the UK he'll walk out with a Boardman bike frame wrapped around his head.

Now if Cav was a Belgium or Italian then yes Milan-San Remo is bigger than the Games. But you have to respect the country you come from or they won't respect you.
 
Mar 10, 2009
1,384
0
0
Visit site
wbt, respect works both ways though. Cav's achievements away from the track have been undeservedly neglected in the British media. Cav (rightly) does not believe that his achievements are recognised at home. you should see the amount of coverage some 14 year old diver who has so far achieved nothing gets in comparison.

he does however need to be careful about qualifying his statements (i haven't heard/read the quoted interview) and not antagonising wiggins et al. although, you can't be best mates with everybody in life. and wiggins is a surly b*stard too.
 
Mar 11, 2009
78
0
0
Visit site
Yeah I agree with Cav too, the Olympics are more important to the general public than to a cyclist with so many other great monuments to race. Not saying I didn't enjoy watching them or that the medals are lesser value. Still good races, it's just ridiculous to expect every professional athlete to be able to fit them in around their already busy schedule so that they're peaking for them.
 
I think we should distinguish between a track medal and the road race medal. Obviously, Cav is talking about a track medal, which I agree to a cycling fan doesn't seem like as big a deal as a major classic. I would argue, however, that a track medal would be a bigger deal than a Tour stage, especially for a guy like Cav who's won 4(?) stages already with many more to come.

I might even say that down the road that track gold becomes an even bigger deal than maybe even an individual classic win, especially if you win several. I mean when you're showing people your trophies after you're retired even many cycling fans are going to gravitate towards that gold medal.

I think Cav understands that and really wanted to win a medal, but is a bit frustrated that he doesn't get the attention he deserves in Britain for his road exploits.
 
May 5, 2009
2
0
0
Visit site
In reply to whiteboyTRASH. Wake up fool!!!
Cav was spot on ....the British public(like the fat stupid politicians) are obsessed with olympic medals. British olympic cycling aspirations are based around going round and round a track. Its spectator friendly(indoors, warm, seated and serves burgers and hotdogs). They hardly noticed when Nicole Cooke won her Gold with a clever and gutsy ride, or Emma Pooley climbed magnificently to Silver in the ITT. It was all about Pendleton. No one noticed when Cooke took the Worlds. Our road cyclists achieve far more yet play second fiddle in Brailsford's schemes and dreams of a knighthood. Our magnificent police even block our national road race calender because it interferes with the great british driving public getting to indoor track events on time!
 
Mar 10, 2009
1,318
0
0
Visit site
In certain nations, the Olympics are the big thing - but that mostly has to do with what the 'national' sports of that nation tend to be. Here in the states, an Olympic Downhill medal is huge, but as a ski-racer, I know that a WC Globe is much more important. Similarly, a gold medal in baseball is nothing compared to the World Series.

For a sprinter such as Cavendish, wins in the monuments or stages in the grand tours have immensely more significance than do an Olympic Madison medal.
.
 
Mar 13, 2009
683
0
0
Visit site
The amount of recognition he gets as arguably Britain's best athlete in any sport is disgraceful. If he was Italian he'd be a God in his homeland.
 
It's fun to compare the merits of one sporting achiement to another but ultimatley it is highly contextual and personal...

How do you compare the FA Cup to the Stanley Cup? (To an English soccer player one is the ultimate and the other is not even on the radar and the opposite would be equally true to a Hockey player.)

Public recognition is not the best guide either... many sporting achievements are all but invisible to all but a minority of fans. We have all heard of michael Phelps but there is a guy in another sport that won 5 consecutive Olympic titles from 1984 - 2000 and many people have no idea who he is.

Ultimately it's all about what it means to you.
 
Apr 22, 2009
124
0
0
Visit site
whiteboytrash said:
The guy has to cool his jets. He can't go bashing the British public for their obsession about the Olympics. I mean FM the Games are in London in 2012. Of course the Brits are chomping at the bit for anything Olympics.

I do believe that's why he said that as a British person, the Olympics are important, but not so much as a cyclist.
I have to say, I can totally understand where he's coming from - much as I respect the achievements of our track cyclists, I think what Cav's achieved on the road over the last couple of years is probably more impressive, and he gets almost no recognition from the general UK public for it.
 
This is why he can say these things. Look at the state of the other sprinters. They're trashed after a hard, grimy day in the rain. He's nails!

Img214450485.jpg
 
180mmCrank said:
It's fun to compare the merits of one sporting achiement to another but ultimatley it is highly contextual and personal...

How do you compare the FA Cup to the Stanley Cup? (To an English soccer player one is the ultimate and the other is not even on the radar and the opposite would be equally true to a Hockey player.)

Public recognition is not the best guide either... many sporting achievements are all but invisible to all but a minority of fans. We have all heard of michael Phelps but there is a guy in another sport that won 5 consecutive Olympic titles from 1984 - 2000 and many people have no idea who he is.

Ultimately it's all about what it means to you.

Well I think you start with the depth of field and go from there. That's why winning the World Cup is a bigger deal than winning the FA, why the 100 meter sprint is more prestigious than the race walk, and why winning a Classic is a better than winning a track medal. This is where the British public have been duped with their track cycling propaganda. To paraphrase Jello Biafra, "Go win the 1500 if you got real balls". Big fish, small pond.

There was an argument in Canada a while ago about this Queb wheelchair chick breaking records all over the place and I think they even made her Canadian athlete of the year and you know PC stuff aside, it's dumb cause you only crush records and win a billion medals cause the field is not very deep. That's why I used to win 8 blue ribbons on sports day!