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Cavendish is the New armstrong

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Anonymous

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franciep10 said:
The guy makes the sprints so boring, it's like you know he's gonna win and that's not good for the tour it was much better two years ago, when it was a copetition between boonen, mcewen and hushovd now the only thing keeping them exciting is the splits in the pack. Plus he looks like he has the same attitude as lance.

so do we blame mark for him being the best sprinter in the world..? the same as we blame lance for being the best tour rider in the world...

it phecks me off actually.. we want riders to be the best, we built them up, we demand improvement, we want them to get better and better.. But when we reach that point we complain that they dominate..

Domination, and cycles of domination are part of sport: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Manchester UTd in football, Schumaker in motor racing, Mike Tyson, Tiger Woods, Greg Normal, Seirge Budka, Carl Lewis, Daley Thomson, Phil Taylor, Steve Davis, Bjorn Bjorg, Martina Navratilova, Eddie Merckx, Lance Armstong..

He is in his second year as a contender. Cav won four stages last year, hes held the pink in the giro, won one classic, and two out of three flat stages this year.. When hes won 3 or 4 green jerseys in a row, won three straight san remos, THEN start accusing him of domination..

franciep10 said:
Cycling is supposed to be an unpredictable sport,.

Erm.. where is that in the rules...? No sport is unpredictable, or there would be no such think as a bookmaker with money..
 
Jun 21, 2009
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calm down calm down let's not turn this rape into a murder!

the OP only likes to see a new name at the top, nothing strange about that. a lot of people do that. the example with federer is a good one, noone blames the fed for being the best ever, but they don't mind seeing a new face now and then.

makes betting a lot more interesting as well.

what really makes me sick about cavendish is this:

why does he have to sound so scouse. poor fella i really feel for him.
 
Mar 16, 2009
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People who post that this or that is boring about bike racing bore the he// out of me. Especially when they are bored at watching one of the best up and coming talents in years. Don't worry, all the greats have their rivals, someone will emerge...eventually.
 
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workingclasshero said:
why does he have to sound so scouse. poor fella i really feel for him.

blasphemy.thumbnail.jpg


YNWA :p
 
Jun 21, 2009
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I suspect that whenever he slags off/challenges Garmin, he's doing it tongue in cheek. Let's face it, he's in touch with most of them, friendly with most of them (I believe) and whenever he opens his mouth and mentions 'Garmin', he's giving JV's boys more publicity.

The only thing which does alarm me about his career to date is his evolving friendship with LA.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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To date I like him, the media plays him up as more cocky than he is.

The problem as I see it as who is next best? In the past Zabel, Cippolini, Abdoujaparov(spelling), Steels, McEwen, Pettachi, have overlapped when in form. Right now Cavendish seems the only great sprinter in form. Farrar and ciolek are just not there yet, but i'd say in form. Hushovd, Friere and Boonen should be able to compete, but don't seem to have the form of years gone by, and I don't think any of them have ever quite been as fast. Sadly i think the only guy to take Cav on right now is Pettachi and he isn't at the tour. I'm hoping someone can knock him off, so he has to lift. Super impressed by his first 2 this year, pulling away from tyler with him in his slipstrem, and kicking again to start to go away from Thor...very impressive.
 
Jul 6, 2009
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its not champions or consistent wins i dislike but i despise belligerent arrogance from anyone athlete or not. some champions conduct themselves in a respectable manner thats more impressive to me and shows character. contrary to what some people think athletes can be dominating champions without being little punks.:mad:
 
Jul 4, 2009
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I don't even think he is that arrogant. Arrogance is generally defined as having undue feelings of worth. Yes, he has feelings of worth, but as has been pointed out, he makes the sprints predictable (I don't see them as boring though). He is bloody good, and he knows it. He starts races knowing that if he can get to the sprint finish he has a high chance of winning, but there is nothing undue about that if you look at his form. He doesn't go into things assuming he will win though. When he does win he is always quick to thank his team, and when he doesn't he usually takes the blame himself. Actually, I kind of like him. Certainly he is working hard over here. I am riding the tour myself (check out my web page, http://www.tourletour.com), and have loved watching him. More predictable, but very exciting. Oh, and he is 24.
Cheers, Rowan
 
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TourLeTour said:
I don't even think he is that arrogant. Arrogance is generally defined as having undue feelings of worth. Yes, he has feelings of worth, but as has been pointed out, he makes the sprints predictable (I don't see them as boring though). He is bloody good, and he knows it. He starts races knowing that if he can get to the sprint finish he has a high chance of winning, but there is nothing undue about that if you look at his form. He doesn't go into things assuming he will win though. When he does win he is always quick to thank his team, and when he doesn't he usually takes the blame himself. Actually, I kind of like him. Certainly he is working hard over here. I am riding the tour myself (check out my web page, http://www.tourletour.com), and have loved watching him. More predictable, but very exciting. Oh, and he is 24.
Cheers, Rowan

dude ive just visited your site..

are you insane :eek:
 
Mar 16, 2009
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Well there are sprinter like Cav and sprinters like Boonen, Frier etc., Cav is a classic train sprinter who rely's on a superior team to deliver him. My only wonder about Cav is if he can do what McEwen did for example and win sprints on other teams trains. If he can develop a finishing kick like a Boonen/Frier/O'grady/McEwen then you can call him dominating. Right now, he's an insanely talented one trick pony, and I wonder how he does if he is on Silence/Rabo/Garmin etc....having said that I will never understand why so many cycling fans are so focused on knocking down our best riders - up and coming or over the hill, why the hate? Cant we all just get along? HAHAHAHAHAHA
 
Mar 12, 2009
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Just a laugh

Tusher said:
I suspect that whenever he slags off/challenges Garmin, he's doing it tongue in cheek. Let's face it, he's in touch with most of them, friendly with most of them (I believe) and whenever he opens his mouth and mentions 'Garmin', he's giving JV's boys more publicity.

The only thing which does alarm me about his career to date is his evolving friendship with LA.

That might be exactly it. I can see Zabriskie laughing his *** off over all the supposed trash-talking. Almost like when DZ and another rider(forget who) had a competition to see who could say the word "kitty" the most on TV. I definitely think thats what happened with the " Tyler Farrar is too nice to win" comment.
As for the point of the thread, what's he supposed to do, not win? I find the sprints exciting just thinking "is this the one where he gets beat?".
 
It's not Cav's fault he's so fast and his team is so strong. But the sprints would be more exciting if the other guys would step up their game. So far it hasn't even been close, including today's sprint for 3rd. I think we got kind of used to seeing close finishes with 3-5 fairly evenly matched guys splitting stages between them. Of course if he goes out and does something crazy, like wins 7 or 8 stages, that will be exciting in itself.

That said, it's very early. Anything could happen.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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CAV is a great talent who works hard and is currently the best there is at what he does right now. His arrogance has been way overblown in the media, this is a guy who rides a training bike with fenders in the off season.
Could you picture Super Mario riding a bike with fenders?
He was a dominating rider too and no one seemed to find it boring then, it was exciting just to watch that leadout train at work and see how many Giro stages he could win. Remember how much safer it was with one dominating train leading the way as opposed to the chaos we have been treated to the last few years? If i was someone like Boonen or Farrar or Hushovd i would be ****ed than my director has given up on my ability to win. Every sprint is different and even though Mark has spanked these guys so far, so many things can happen, someone could come underneath the train in a corner and force them off their line, another team could jump them before the last km, road hazards, mechanicals, etc
So Columbia didn't work much today but Mark still got the most points of any of the sprinters, he already has a couple of stages so if he just keeps beating the other sprinters for 3rd or 11th or whatever and makes it to Paris it will be a success for Columbia & a complete and utter embarrassment for many other teams. Good strategy Quickstep...:eek:
 
Mar 19, 2009
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I dont believe Cavendish to be arrogant. He doesnt seem like it, except for the story where Greipel or somebody was angry at him. I dont like him but I sort of dont mind...All freak sprinters hit a peak where they win several stages in a row in Grand Tours. Pettachi winning 9 damn stages of the Giro in one yr...Cippo, the list goes on and on...


"Lance" on the other hand...LOL. If the world of physiology did the riders some justice a rider like Cavendish is truly more "freakishly" talented than Lance by a long shot.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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Really how good has Cav's victories been at the tour?... every sprint this tour Cav has only had 1 or 2 sprinters up against him in his victories. Boonen, Friere, Bennati haven't yet had a proper battle with Cav. Unfortunately this year the sprinters have lost a lot of chances due to crashes, splits in the field and breakaways staying away. Hope to see more challenges to Cav. I don't mind Cav's arrogance either as he is an entertainer.:D
 

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franciep10 said:
Cycling is supposed to be an unpredictable sport, so there is a difference between greatness and predictability, the tour got so boring during the armstrong years, because you knew he was gonna win and it is the same thing with cav, how many sprints as he lost 2 maybe 3 all year that's unheard of, all of those great sprinters were great, but you knew if you give it your all you have a chance of winning, with cav it's like you have no chance if he is on form.

Hey Mate

All sorted. I rang Cav last night and told him your concerns. He was quite worried that you think he is making the sprint boring. He apologises for being too fast for the other guys and promises that he will try to ride slower on the flat stages to come. He also said that he would hold the Columbia boys back this morning to keep the race exciting for you and hopes you enjoyed Tommy V's win.:rolleyes:
 
Apr 28, 2009
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I think this idea is now officially irrelevant since we've seen 2 "flat" stages where 1 - a break stayed away, and 2 - Cav was nowhere to be seen in the final sprint.

Sure, Cav has shown he's unrivaled when there's a completely flat run-in to the finish and the break has been caught, but that's the thing about a stage race - not every day is like that.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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crispy said:
I think this idea is now officially irrelevant since we've seen 2 "flat" stages where 1 - a break stayed away, and 2 - Cav was nowhere to be seen in the final sprint.

Sure, Cav has shown he's unrivaled when there's a completely flat run-in to the finish and the break has been caught, but that's the thing about a stage race - not every day is like that.

We have? As far as I can tell we've had one stage where the break fantastically stayed away and there was just reward for a hugely entertaining rider. And a flat stage with a steep uphill last 2kms which suited the big 'diesel' Classic finishers. As to Cav being nowhere, take a look at him coming around the right side of the sprint and finishing 16th. Agreed that today was NEVER going to be a Cav win and that just because a stage is flat, that doesn't mean that it finishes in a jump sprint.
 
Jun 26, 2009
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franciep10 said:
That's not the point, the point is that he makes the sprints boring.

This may come as a shock to all of those that are complaining about it not being competitive enough (i.e. Astana TTT and now Cav as Sprinter) but the rules are laid out for all to see and then the riders are out to win . . . not entertain us with harrowing close call finishes.

I mean come on. Complaining because you as a spectator are not sufficiently entertained because some rider worked to hard, prepared to well, is too physically gifted, etc and as a result beats the others who either did not or aren't?

Think about it. Riders live to win. Sponsors/Advertisers/Broadcasters live to make money. Spectators live to be entertained. Who of the three have put the most skin in the game? Certainly not the spectators. Don't complain.
 
May 5, 2009
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byu123 said:
This may come as a shock to all of those that are complaining about it not being competitive enough (i.e. Astana TTT and now Cav as Sprinter) but the rules are laid out for all to see and then the riders are out to win . . . not entertain us with harrowing close call finishes.

I mean come on. Complaining because you as a spectator are not sufficiently entertained because some rider worked to hard, prepared to well, is too physically gifted, etc and as a result beats the others who either did not or aren't?

Think about it. Riders live to win. Sponsors/Advertisers/Broadcasters live to make money. Spectators live to be entertained. Who of the three have put the most skin in the game? Certainly not the spectators. Don't complain.

I would like to add many to the list of athletes to complain about.

It's boring to watch Michael Phelps swim, since he wins all the time. Oh wait, he did slow down enough during that one race - knowing that he'd make the miraculous last second touch for victory.

Jake Peavy's slider is boring because guys can't hit it.

Kobe's fallaway is boring because it's indefensible.

Christiano Ronaldo is boring because nobody can run with him.

Give me a break. While you were being bored with the Armstrong wins, others were celebrating the greatness (and others were accusing him of doping, yes, I know). Same with Cavendish, McEwen, Cippolini, or any other great sprinter that has dominated. They're the best at what they do, sit back and enjoy it.
 
Jul 9, 2009
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As stage six showed, Cav needs an absolutely flat stage to set up his train and win. As such, he currently has more in common with Britain's great Track stars then great sprinters of the tour. Cav is still young though.
 
Wait a minute, stop the presses, we have a pro sprinter at the top of his game who seems a bit cocky! Come on people there is nothing new under the sun, top sprinters have always been this way and always will be. It takes a boatload of confidence to stick your front wheel where it probably should not be and then stand up and punch it not to mention you've got to tell your team to ride on the front all day and then deliver or that ego goes away really really quickly.

I'll admit Cav's persona rubs me the wrong way as well but it's not his fault that he doesn't seem to have much competition right now - that's his competitors fault. If Boonen spent less time snorting lines I'm sure he'd be in the mix; Benatti should be in there too but has had a terrible luck with crashing and is off his form; Thor is up there but is another year older and has lost a bit of his top end speed; Freire may be over the hill; McEwen is broken from a crash in Belgium and not racing; the list goes on.

Where the heck is Ciolek and Farrar? I agree with Franciep that it's kind of boring to watch Cav dominate but he deserves only praise for this and the criticism must fall on his competitors.
 
DalyPeleton said:
As stage six showed, Cav needs an absolutely flat stage to set up his train and win. As such, he currently has more in common with Britain's great Track stars then great sprinters of the tour. Cav is still young though.

He cannot climb. We should see some tighter sprints after the mountains put Cav's legs through the meat grinder or force him to drop out. Heck that'll be another fun little Tour sub-drama to watch right there: can Cav gut it out over the mountains for the first time and keep grinding out points for the Green jersey? His confidence level will be simply scary if he can do that and win Green at the end at only 23.
 
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Anonymous

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Sprint stages are boring by definition. Who wins changes their character in no way, shape, or form.
 

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