Cav's whining

[Indurain]

The Mighty Thor. Slam Dunked Cav's words all across France. Let his legs do the talking. I wonder what Cav will have to say for himself now. Surely he has to admit Thor was the better man when it came to Green?

 

[Jamsque]

Haha. I've seen about 15 interviews with Cav and Columbia whining the last days, not a single one with Hushovd. But the british sees just what they want to seen apparently.

I don't think many British fans would try to claim that Cav has not been whining about this, I certainly wouldn't. He does get criticized by the UK press, with some regularity, for his volatile temper and poor self-control when talking to the media. What you think about the actual incident isn't really what's important here, although for the record I think that if you really look at the replay you will see that Cav sprinted in a straight line relative to the lines on the road, but the barriers came in and squeezed out Hushovd.

Cav did ride a pretty odd sprint, and I there is a good argument to be made that he should be punished in some way for the how he rode, but I don't think relegating him to the back of the pack and destroying any chance he had at the green jersey was a reasonable punishment.

Regardless, he didn't handle the situation and the following days well at all, and today Hushovd went up the road and proved that he is well worthy of winning the green jersey, which is after all the points jersey and not the sprinter's jersey. Hushovd is a great rider and I respect him and enjoy watching him ride, but I am undeniably a British fan, so despite Cav's allegedly dangerous spriting, his whining and (some would say) his boring dominance I still think he's fantastic and love seeing him win, because he's a real home-grown talent and I have been watching him develop for years now, and because his turn of speed is just thrilling to see.

 

[avanti]

................... but I don't think relegating him to the back of the pack and destroying any chance he had at the green jersey ..................was a reasonable punishment.

I never saw an overhead shot of the sprint so it is hard for me to draw any conclusions. If Thor wins in Paris by more than 13 points then for sure he won the jersey fairly. If not then I can see this debate continuing thru other races this year. I like both sprinters and in general both do good clean sprints.

There are still lots of points to be won before the tour ends including 6 intermediate sprints and two finals where a sprinter could score points.

May the best sprinter win green

 

[Kennf1]

Wiggins' comments on twitter today:

"Thor Hushovd, what can I say, after a certain persons comments today, Thor sticks two fingers up in a way that only Thor can. A true Gent."

 

[Jonathan]

Haha. I've seen about 15 interviews with Cav and Columbia whining the last days, not a single one with Hushovd. But the british sees just what they want to seen apparently.

It should also be mentioned that Cavendish himself complained about Van Hummel after the second stage. This turned out to be a baseless accusation - so who was whining there? Ofcourse, Cavendish has forgotten all about that.

 

[tigerboy]

We haven't seen Daley after a dodgy jury decision yet!

Cav's attitude may be childish. But he is just a kid.

No he is not a kid. He is well into his 20s.

I love his sprints. The finish to Milan-San Remo was spectacular. However he does need to realise that 4 well executed trains followed by lightning speed wil NOT win you the Green. When the dust settles Thor will almost certainly have win the jersey and that will insure he cares less.

 

[joe_papp]

I have to say I was definitely a fan of Cavendish, he did shout his mouth of a bit but was alwalys gracious towards his team-mates and not totally egotisitcal like Cipo. However, his remarks about this incident have changed my mind on Cav, the Eurosport guys went over this incident again recently and showed in slow motion where Cav was in the wrong.

For me, if Cav had sprinted normally, there would have been no problem, Columbia wanted the cake and all so deserved what they got. I dont know if the decision was made before Cervelo complained or not but really Cav needs to shut up and his team also, I too was a great admirer of Columbia but likewise, my attitude on them has changed also.

Finally, I hate people who say we shouldnt criticise because we cant do what the pros do whether it be Cavendish or Lance or whoever. WTF, we are fans, this is a forum for fans to express their opinions on cycling including those who compete in pro cycling. We are not getting paid big money to do a sport. Does that mean if I am a banker or some other overpaid muppet, nobody who is not a banker or whatever cannot criticise me. Get a life.

+1

Bravo and well said.

 

[Martin318is]

I'm amazed nobody has yet mentioned Cav's Toddlerlike dummy spit at the Olympics and subsequent wall of silence against Wiggo. (plus whinging noise in the press about it at the same time)

I guess the only component of Cav that is a top professional athlete is his leg speed. Everything else is way way off being properly polished.

Mind you, he isn't getting much help with that development on Columbia. His boss also seems to launch a public cryfest whenever he doesn't get the present he wants.

 

[pedaling squares]

You hit that one on the head. Cav's team management is making excuses for his behaviour because he brings their sponsors so much attention. One of the many veterans on that team needs to take Cav aside and teach him that even brilliance is no excuse for selfishness and whinging.

 

[Benneth]

It's pretty surprising Cav hasn't had more coaching on interview technique, he's not exactly new on the scene anymore.

I'll admit I'm only an intermittent cycling follower and it was only after hearing his interviews in this year's Tour that I realise what a tosser he is. On the other hand Wiggins seems a top bloke so I'm just glad us Brits have someone else to support for major honours (actually having any kind of choice feels kind of strange?). I'm not aware of their fall out last year... so they dont see eye to eye?

I feel that Cav could have got away without punishment over that sprint if he hadn't been looking around so much, he will maintain he was trying to give Hincapie as many seconds as possible but it did seem a bit dubious, if he kept is head down he maybe couldnt have been accused as he didnt come off his line. Thor is a tough old pro, Cav has been shown up by a wiser rider. I'm happy to see Thor roll in in green on Sunday, and I wouldn't mind seeing someone other than Cav win the stage.

 

[Martin318is]

I'm not aware of their fall out last year... so they dont see eye to eye?

Cav stormed out of the velodrome straight after the olympic madison where he was paired with Wiggo. I forget the actual time frame but supposedly he didn't speak to Brad again for over 3 months from that moment.

Cavendish laid the blame for missing a medal completely and utterly on Brad's shoulders because Brad supposedly didn't try hard enough and/or was tired after his pursuit medal efforts earlier in the schedule.

It very much reminded me of a bully kid in a primary school 3-legged race, hitting his partner after losing for not running fast enough and costing them the win.

To my knowledge, not one single other rider in that race felt the need to blame their partner for them not winning a medal. Professionals don't do that.

 

[Indurain]

There has only been one thing Cav has been correct about this whole tour. Where he admitted that his an A hole