Cav's leadout man?

[Raceoftruth]

Now that the saga of cav to sky is finalised, just wondered who people thought would mainly be cav's leadout man. For me there will be some guys who will do it sometimes, but there will likely be one guy who will become his new renshaw. Geraint Thomas may do it the odd time, but he has his own targets, EBH also. Eisel will most likely be the next to last man as he was at htc, but could also do it. The most likely for me is Sutton or Swift, but think it will be Sutton.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Absolutely every rider on the squad other than Mark Cavendish will be deployed somewhere in the leadout at some point in the season. I suspect in the biggest races EBH and Eisel will be the main helpers (depending on whether Thomas does the Tour with the Olympics following). Swift and Sutton may well help out at the smaller races. Appollonio is mighty quick too, so don't be surprised to see him figure in a few races as well.

 

[Mambo95]

I agree with you OP, apart from the Swift bit. It won't be Swift.

I've said before that Sutton will be the new Renshaw, but I'm now not so sure that Sky can take both Sutton and Eisel to the Tour.

 

[Winterfold]

Matt Goss

 

[JRanton]

I agree with you OP, apart from the Swift bit. It won't be Swift.

I've said before that Sutton will be the new Renshaw, but I'm now not so sure that Sky can take both Sutton and Eisel to the Tour.

Yeah, which is why Thomas probably missing the Tour is a pretty big blow for Sky.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I suspect they will try a few early on. Ultimately, it will be Sutton.

 

[Old School]

Don't matter, Sky is prone to crashing...

Just joking.

 

[daveinzambia]

I always thought Thomas 1st choice Sutton 2nd. EBH struggles in positioning.

struggle to see more than one of EBH and Thomas and Sutton in tour team. in fact looking at list of riders and struggling to see exact tour team at all. at least 11 riders i would pick as definite choices.

will be an interesting year next year

 

[Anonymous]

Eisel, then either G or Sutton.

Theres no way they will let Eddie do a leadout, hes guaranteed to get Cav lost in the middle of the bunch somewhere, his positioning is bizarre.

Swift will get the races cav doesnt want and the hillier one week races as will appo-jet.

G and Sutton will then get to do their own thing in the sprint classics and late in the season.

 

[hatcher]

I'm sure all of the above will do it at some point. In the Tour if Thomas isn't there it'll be EBH. Getting to the front is a lot different than following someone to the front.

I believe EBH has led out just twice for Sky. A win for Henderson at Eneco, and a win for Sutton in KBK.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

It should be Eisel.imo

 

[thingswelike]

I know what you mean about EBH positioning, but then you don't win a stage in the TdF by chance. The day before his win, he also looked great - but just went too early.
Geraint reminds me a little of Millar in the leadout - in that he's so focussed on getting through that he doesn't see what's going on behind.

Either way, they've got strength in depth and a little fine tuning is all it will take. The motivation for that fine tuning has just arrived.

 

[miguelvazpinto]

Ian Stannard is also a possibility...

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Hopefully it will be Sutton. Thomas has done some amazing leadouts but I hope that the fact that Cavendish has joined Sky won't affect Thomas' own chances in races.

 

[Kvinto]

thing that upsets me most is having Sutton, Henderson, Hayman, Swift or Eddie this season you never knew who would start sprints (or do lead-outs) in different races... since 2012 it'll be obvious

 

[Morbius]

To prepare for the Olympics, Sky will probably want to practice with a Brit, but not GT as he will be riding the track. That is unless they expect a five man team to be burned up ahead of the final k

Apart from Swift, I'm not sure who could do the job. Does Dowsett have sufficient pace?

 

[Morbius]

GT blogs about Cav on BBC site here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/geraintthomas/2011/10/cavendish_joins_team_sky.html

lots of comments re the main issues, including this quote re the leadout:
I don't think his arrival will change my responsibilities within the team too much. I will still have a key role to play, especially in the Classics. And whenever it comes to a sprint finish, we always try to set up our sprinter, so why not lead out the best?

 

[greenedge]

Sutton at most races along with Eisel. Geraint at any race he is in with Cav and EBH will work for him at least once.

 

[MatchstickMan]

To prepare for the Olympics, Sky will probably want to practice with a Brit, but not GT as he will be riding the track. That is unless they expect a five man team to be burned up ahead of the final k

Apart from Swift, I'm not sure who could do the job. Does Dowsett have sufficient pace?

He led out Phinney when they were both at Trek-Livestrong, so he's had some practice. Don't know if he's quick enough yet, though.

Heard G described a few of times (by his own team and the British media) as 'the best lead-out man in the world', so I'd reckon he'd be first choice. Since he won't be doing the Tour though, I'd guess EBH from the likely Tour squad.

 

[maltiv]

Theres no way they will let Eddie do a leadout, hes guaranteed to get Cav lost in the middle of the bunch somewhere, his positioning is bizarre.

Very bizarre, such as on champs elysees where he was on Cav's wheel through the last corner, I mean who wants to be in that position

 

[bobbins]

Eisel, then either G or Sutton.

Theres no way they will let Eddie do a leadout, hes guaranteed to get Cav lost in the middle of the bunch somewhere, his positioning is bizarre.

Swift will get the races cav doesnt want and the hillier one week races as will appo-jet.

G and Sutton will then get to do their own thing in the sprint classics and late in the season.

Appo-Jet? These lame 'nicknames' need to go, starting with this one which is really someone elses with a couple of letters changed!

 

[sublimit]

Appo-Jet? These lame 'nicknames' need to go, starting with this one which is really someone elses with a couple of letters changed!

Appo-Jet? Sounds like a toilet cleaning liquid circa 1993.


Eissel will be second in line in the leadout till handing over to the G-Man (Thomas).

 

[ingsve]

Eisel is not the choice for last lead out. He belongs earlier in the train. Sutton is the most skilled lead out Sky has. He seems to be the best at getting the timing right etc. Geraint Thomas is getting better and better at leading out as well but Sutton is still faster and with Geraints strength over a longer distance he is a better choice for taking the last train spot before the final lead out, starting at perhaps the 1000m mark and handing off to the final leadout at 400 meters to go.

For the Tour where the spots are limited I would put Geraint and EBH as the specific helpers for Cav. Other than that you could have riders like Siutsou and Rogers to help with the train in the final kms, even Wiggins has said he would help in the end. Taking Eisel to the Tour would be a waste I think since he is too much of a single assignment guy. It's better to focus on riders that can be of use both in the flat stages and in the mountains for Wiggins and Eisel would only be useful on the flats.

 

[hatcher]

Thomas is pure horsepower. He does't seem to consistently know what gaps someone on his wheel will be able to follow him through, but when he gets it perfectly he delivers better than anyone on the roster. Cav is not quite as passive as EBH, and I'd bank on him making it through smaller holes than those EBH would even consider going through.

 

[Boardslide]

Eisel is not the choice for last lead out. He belongs earlier in the train. Sutton is the most skilled lead out Sky has. He seems to be the best at getting the timing right etc. Geraint Thomas is getting better and better at leading out as well but Sutton is still faster and with Geraints strength over a longer distance he is a better choice for taking the last train spot before the final lead out, starting at perhaps the 1000m mark and handing off to the final leadout at 400 meters to go.

For the Tour where the spots are limited I would put Geraint and EBH as the specific helpers for Cav. Other than that you could have riders like Siutsou and Rogers to help with the train in the final kms, even Wiggins has said he would help in the end. Taking Eisel to the Tour would be a waste I think since he is too much of a single assignment guy. It's better to focus on riders that can be of use both in the flat stages and in the mountains for Wiggins and Eisel would only be useful on the flats.

I think Eisel would be the one dead cert for the tour with Cav as road captaing and also while everyone else are helping Wiggins and Frome in the mountains Bernie is the one to get Cav through these stages as seen this year.