Cav wants to beat Merckx' TDF wins

[Curls_21]

Cavendish hasn't lost anyone from his lead out (main lead out) this year as the two main ones are Eisel and Renshaw, with Grabsch and Martin key as well.

The only two he has lost from the lead out train from this years TdF are Rogers (who is a big loss from this perspective) and Monfort.


Regarding Griepal I dont really know how well he has been tested against the other big sprinters, however I thought he had failed to win against both Petacchi and Farrar this year.

I suspect next year will be a real ding **** between Cavendish and Farrar, with bot of them being unbeatable except by each other which personally I am looking forward to

 

[thrawn]

I did not miss those stages at all that would have been silly. I just think that with Greipel there with a strong team he can beat cav... Just what i think we will just have to wait until next season to find out

I don't think Greipel is going to have much of a lead out train at the tour. They are going to be far more focussed on getting Van Den Broeck onto the podium.

 

[Bertie]

I disagree Ferminal.

1. Cav's victories rely on a strong leadout. If it is messy it is a lot harder for mark
2. Griepel often loses his leadout man in the sprint and comes from a long way back and still wins.

If Andre can stick to his train a bit better he will take some stages off Cav and then you've also got to look at farrar.

Griepel, Farrar, Petachi are all very good. But it is dillusional to think anybody will knock Cav off his perch. He drives a six geared car when everybody else has 5 gears. As much as he thanks his team he doesnt need a lead out train, he needs a few guys keeping him in touch with the front group. The key for Cav is to get to the last 3k without being shot. Thats why guys like Hincapie were losses. But when his train was not there this year, he still crushed the rest.

Cav with a train...6 wins
Cav without a train...4 wins

 

[skidmark]

If he's good enough to keep going there and picking up a few wins here and there, and goes back long enough, then yeah he'll overtake Eddy. But aside from the obvious fact that Eddy was winning those same GTs he was winning the stages in, he did it in only 7 participations. Cav has 15 wins in 4 participations, so he's got 3 years left to match Eddy. I don't think he'll do it in that timeframe, though.

 

[c&cfan]

have some of you guys watched cycling in the last years?

why are you talking about merckx? in merckx era, the best cyclist was able to win tt, classics, sprints an gt's. those days are over. today's cycling is SPECIALIZED. to win, you have to be special in something.

if merckx was racing today, he would've been something like evans, but worse at climbing and better on the cobbles. you know what this means? most likely ending a season with 0 wins but lots and lots of top ten in every important race.

merckx«« bonen and cancellara
merckx«««« argentin bettini rebellin
merckx««««««««««« contador elefantino
merckx««««««««« cipollini petachi CAVENDISH
merckx«««««« cancellara martin millar
merckx=evans (a little)


today's cycling is much more different. no living creature can win in the champs at sprint and in ventoux as a favourite.

when you guys compare merckx to today's best guns, you are just making huge mistakes. use your brain and logic please....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
about cav.
why are you people just talking about his lead out train? even if greipel had cav's tour led out train, he would lose time and times again. cav is better at position, has more power and speed, is very smart etc. cav's led out train makes it only easy for position in the pack, and you know that every sprinter wants cav's wheel. why? because he is the best and that's the only chance of wining against him! if greipel is in cav's wheel (so, obvious greipel has no lead out in this situation) he has a smal chance of wining (one in ten maybe, he isnt even the second best sprinter) but if he as an amazing lead out train and cav is on greipel's wheel, greipel will lose for sure because cav is much faster\better.

cav has proved that in every situation, he is the best. in fact, cav's victories without leadout are even "bigger" because the others loose the draft made by htc, so it comes down to speed, power and class, and we know how it ends (stage 21, tour 2010).

however others can win when cav is trusting in the lead out and something happens (stupid leadout, falls) or when he is out of shape (especially in his mind). but at his peak? no chance.. in my opinion only the he is already at the level of peak petachi and peak cipo (the reason why they have a small amount of victories at the tour (besides their love for the giro and vuelta) is because to be the best at the tour in each stage, you have to be not only the best of the sprinters, but the best of all cyclists, because a win in the tour can make the career fly to another level...).

he has everything to kill eddy's record. it's up to him..

 

[Bertie]

He may well do it, but really who cares. The danger in Cav's remarks here is that he draws a comparison with Eddy. There is no comparison to be made. Eddy was a bike rider/racer bar none...Cav's a sprinter.

 

[Ferminal]

have some of you guys watched cycling in the last years?
.

Have YOU read any of the thread?

There are plenty of places where you can show everyone your amazing knowledge because you're able to deduce that Merckx is a one-off freak, legend, outlier, never to be beaten etc etc etc we've all said it and read it 100x before.

This is about a record, nothing to do with Eddy apart from the fact it's his name next to it.

 

[flicker]

You need to learn how to read. Stage race= one week race. Otherwise I woul've said Grand Tour.

And it isn't that far fetched to see someone win more Grand Tours than Merckx. Sure they won't do it with as many stage wins or other jersey wins(rules were different then, so shouldn't even be compared).

Merckx was like 29 years old when he won his last Grand Tour. Nowadays GT contenders are on their peak form when they're 32 years old. Contador has(or had, depends on how long he's banned and how he comes out of it) a good shot of breaking Merckx's 11 GT wins.

Now one has to wonder why Lance Armstrong never tried to break his record and why he suddenly retired in 2005... It smells like fish.

Your guy Alberto is an epic rider I dare say greater than my guy Lance. Whether or not he gets a ban he will be under the magnyfing glass and will have to ride cleaner thus the challange to beat king eddys' gt record!

 

[Mich78BEL]

You need to learn how to read. Stage race= one week race. Otherwise I woul've said Grand Tour.

And it isn't that far fetched to see someone win more Grand Tours than Merckx. Sure they won't do it with as many stage wins or other jersey wins(rules were different then, so shouldn't even be compared).

Merckx was like 29 years old when he won his last Grand Tour. Nowadays GT contenders are on their peak form when they're 32 years old. Contador has(or had, depends on how long he's banned and how he comes out of it) a good shot of breaking Merckx's 11 GT wins.

Now one has to wonder why Lance Armstrong never tried to break his record and why he suddenly retired in 2005... It smells like fish.

shure someday somebody might come along and beats Merckx's GT-records of 11, but i don't think it will be Contador. Would be a shame if it was Contador.

I also disagree that GT-contenders reach there peak at 32, the peak is between 26/27 and 29/30. And usually the all-time greats like Merckx, who was probably at his best at age 24/25, peak sooner.

 

[El Pistolero]

shure someday somebody might come along and beats Merckx's GT-records of 11, but i don't think it will be Contador. Would be a shame if it was Contador.

I also disagree that GT-contenders reach there peak at 32, the peak is between 26/27 and 29/30. And usually the all-time greats like Merckx, who was probably at his best at age 24/25, peak sooner.

I wouldn't think it as a shame if Contador broke it. Sure, he's a doper, but so is Merckx. otherwise he would have won 12 GTs instead of 11

 

[Boardslide]

The danger in Cav's remarks here is that he draws a comparison with Eddy. There is no comparison to be made. Eddy was a bike rider/racer bar none...Cav's a sprinter.

The comparison as such is not with Eddy the rider but more with the record number of TDF stage wins as a goal to aspire to. A motivational tool only for someone who has achieved so much in the TDF already in a short time, most riders would say their goal was to win a TDF stage but for him it's a case of been there done that, what now, so it becomes the record together with the Green jersey

 

[LugHugger]

i reckon griepel will knock cav off his perch next year and win more stages than cav at le tour!

troll alert

 

[hrotha]

I'm amazed that anyone could have a problem with what Cav said. He doesn't even need to say controversial stuff anymore.

 

[Angliru]

Wow that is far reaching. Do you really believe Contador can outdo Eddys' GT Palmares. Far out man!

If I'm not mistaken the statement was "stage races", not just grand tours.

 

[AngusW]

I'd say Contador can easily do better than Merckx on the stage race front(depends on how he comes out his ban though). He didn't actually win that many stage races compared to some other cyclists(like Sean Kelly).

And let's be honest here. Merckx was lucky to live in a time where 2 year bans were beyond imagination.

Interesting that you name Sean Kelly in your comparison. Merckx won 47 stage races. Sean Kelly won 24 stage races. Contador has won 15 so far.

 

[Mich78BEL]

I wouldn't think it as a shame if Contador broke it. Sure, he's a doper, but so is Merckx. otherwise he would have won 12 GTs instead of 11

it wouldn't be a shame because of doping but because Contador is a boring rider, very talented but boring, i also don't get that as a Belgian you can be a fan of Contador over Merckx

 

[Mich78BEL]

have some of you guys watched cycling in the last years?

why are you talking about merckx? in merckx era, the best cyclist was able to win tt, classics, sprints an gt's. those days are over. today's cycling is SPECIALIZED. to win, you have to be special in something.

if merckx was racing today, he would've been something like evans, but worse at climbing and better on the cobbles. you know what this means? most likely ending a season with 0 wins but lots and lots of top ten in every important race.

merckx«« bonen and cancellara
merckx«««« argentin bettini rebellin
merckx««««««««««« contador elefantino
merckx««««««««« cipollini petachi CAVENDISH
merckx«««««« cancellara martin millar
merckx=evans (a little)


today's cycling is much more different. no living creature can win in the champs at sprint and in ventoux as a favourite.

when you guys compare merckx to today's best guns, you are just making huge mistakes. use your brain and logic please....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
about cav.
why are you people just talking about his lead out train? even if greipel had cav's tour led out train, he would lose time and times again. cav is better at position, has more power and speed, is very smart etc. cav's led out train makes it only easy for position in the pack, and you know that every sprinter wants cav's wheel. why? because he is the best and that's the only chance of wining against him! if greipel is in cav's wheel (so, obvious greipel has no lead out in this situation) he has a smal chance of wining (one in ten maybe, he isnt even the second best sprinter) but if he as an amazing lead out train and cav is on greipel's wheel, greipel will lose for sure because cav is much faster\better.

cav has proved that in every situation, he is the best. in fact, cav's victories without leadout are even "bigger" because the others loose the draft made by htc, so it comes down to speed, power and class, and we know how it ends (stage 21, tour 2010).

however others can win when cav is trusting in the lead out and something happens (stupid leadout, falls) or when he is out of shape (especially in his mind). but at his peak? no chance.. in my opinion only the he is already at the level of peak petachi and peak cipo (the reason why they have a small amount of victories at the tour (besides their love for the giro and vuelta) is because to be the best at the tour in each stage, you have to be not only the best of the sprinters, but the best of all cyclists, because a win in the tour can make the career fly to another level...).

he has everything to kill eddy's record. it's up to him..

comparing between era's is stupid, its like comparing Christiano Ronaldo & Pelé and so on

you can only compare how one athlete dominates his peers and then there really is no comparison to Merckx in cycling

 

[flicker]

it wouldn't be a shame because of doping but because Contador is a boring rider, very talented but boring, i also don't get that as a Belgian you can be a fan of Contador over Merckx

Forgive him as he has been eating Spanish meat.

 

[Hawkwood]

Interesting that you name Sean Kelly in your comparison. Merckx won 47 stage races. Sean Kelly won 24 stage races. Contador has won 15 so far.

Think what Merckx might have done if he'd actually concentrated on stage races! Instead he was riding year round, the classics, other one-day races, stage races, kermesses, criteriums, hill-climbs, time-trials, cyclo crosses, 6-Days...