How many teammates would Cav need to beat Cancellara

[WinterRider]

Let's have a real discussion. In a 200 km time trial, Cancellara goes it alone, and Cavendish can have his pick of his HTC teammates to ride team time trial style. What is the minimum number of teammates Cav would need in order for Cav to finish the 200 km in less time than Cancellara.

Let's assume a pancake flat 200 km with no wind and perfect conditions. Bonus points may be awarded for naming the riders

 

[The Hitch]

Let's have a real discussion. In a 200 km time trial, Cancellara goes it alone, and Cavendish can have his pick of his HTC teammates to ride team time trial style. What is the minimum number of teammates Cav would need in order for Cav to finish the 200 km in less time than Cancellara.

Let's assume a pancake flat 200 km with no wind and perfect conditions. Bonus points may be awarded for naming the riders

1 Tony Martin

seriously though 2 - Tony Martin and Peter Velits would suffice i would say.

Though tbf this question is basically, how many htc guys doing a ttt is neccesary to beat Canc over 200km. And ive never seen Canc or anyone do a 200k tt. That would kill you. Hence we dont really know. Over 200k, probably any 2 pros working together could beat Canc.

 

[Frosty]

1 Tony Martin

seriously though 2 - Tony Martin and Peter Velits would suffice i would say.

Though tbf this question is basically, how many htc guys doing a ttt is neccesary to beat Canc over 200km. And ive never seen Canc or anyone do a 200k tt. That would kill you. Hence we dont really know. Over 200k, probably any 2 pros working together could beat Canc.

In the UK some people (mad ones) do 100 mile time trials and the record is three hours and twenty something minutes. There are also 12-hour and 24-hour efforts.

 

[Ney the Viking]

I would say one is enough, that would make it 100km in front and 100km sucking wheel which should give enough respite to deal with a lone man having to do it all by himself. Though the entire scenario is completely silly.

 

[sublimit]

In the UK some people (mad ones) do 100 mile time trials and the record is three hours and twenty something minutes. There are also 12-hour and 24-hour efforts.

i and a few others used to train with a 100 mile TT specialist, he used to turn up having done 40 miles, ride with us for 70 miles and when we went home he would carry on for another 40 or so.. nice guy but completely insane.

 

[Finbouy]

Did you mention pancakes?

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I'd say just 1 no matter who it is... 2 guys can beat anyone when you're going for 200 km. you can recover when the person alone cannot

 

[Anonymous]

this is the weirdest thread I have ever seen on here, and that is saying something.

And the answer is 1 btw. 2 will always beat 1 (within reason)

How many leadout men would cancellara need to beat cav in a sprint - nearly as silly a question.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

this is the weirdest thread I have ever seen on here, and that is saying something.

And the answer is 1 btw. 2 will always beat 1 (within reason)

How many leadout men would cancellara need to beat cav in a sprint - nearly as silly a question.

Cancellara wouldn't ever beat Cav in a sprint only if the leadout stopped at 25 m before the finishing line and the lead out man just brakes

 

[schweinika]

Tony Martin would be enough, I think.

 

[Sophistic]

I'm not so sure that Tony Martin would be enough, you can not ignore how bad Cavendishs endurance is, guy's 10kg lighter than Cancellara or Hushovd and they kick his *** big time even on modest hills.
Would Cavendish really be in recovery mode behind Tony Martin in full speed and in perfect aerodynamic position?Martin has a far higher threshold than his teammate, so Cavendish might work as hard as the german even with the advantage of drafting.

 

[redranger]

I would say one is enough, that would make it 100km in front and 100km sucking wheel which should give enough respite to deal with a lone man having to do it all by himself. Though the entire scenario is completely silly.

yup. this only proves that Spartacus would have it in the bag if it were one on one.

 

[ergmonkey]

Cancellara is simply better at life.

vs.

Whom would you rather be?

 

[Ferminal]

Martin, Grabsch and Albasini.

 

[pedaling squares]

Thanks ergmonkey, that saved this thread from being a total waste!

 

[scribe]

Tony Martin would be enough, I think.

Tony could hang with Canc for at least 3/4 of the way. But he would have to drop Cav like a dingleberry along the way.

 

[Ferminal]

So whilst these silly discussions continue, I have another one:

If Fabian and Tony were doing a 2-man Time Trial, could Cav follow their wheels for 200km?

 

[usedtobefast]

ok,Canc sits on wheels until the time is right. then he rides away. 10 guys,or 2 guys. he rides away. and as dim said, this is a wacky thread.

 

[R.0.t.O]

Seriously the first thing any pro's in this scenario would do is make an arrangement to take it easy until at most 30km to go. Have a bit of a chat, go back to the car for a load of drinks. There's no bunch chasing so you might as well take it easy until the equivalent of the finale.

Then if the game is for any of the HTC guys to beat Cancellara then 2 total would be enough. Any break of 3 with 2 from the same team coming into a finale the 2 should always win. You can work a number of different tactics from there if it doesn't matter which of the two of you win.

If the rule is that Cavendish has to win the race then it's much more difficult because you have to deliver a sprint finish, so the pace all the way from 10km down to 0.5km has to be high enough to stop Canc clipping off. We know at this point that he can hold off a whole peloton if the speed dips enough for him to get a gap. Canc doesn't attack before that because HTC ttt at just steady enough pace to leave him out there for a long time. Cav probably wouldn't need a lead-out as such, but he needs probably at least 3 guys with him to drill it sufficiently from 10km without any let up in the pace. I don't see any other tactic you can use if only a Cavendish win will do.

 

[galaxy1]

one to lead him out for 200km and one to check over Fabian's bike with a fine toothcomb for electrical doping products.

 

[Marcus135]

4 average TT riders

 

[jens_attacks]

who would win in a hamburger eating contest?cancellara or cavendish?

 

[WinterRider]

Well it took some of you a while to catch on. Maybe I should have put one more option in the poll as follows:

This is a stupid poll and I'm not responding!

I was trying to poke some fun at the other rediculous Cav vs Canc thread. Both that one and this are completely silly, but I since so many people seemed to think that Cav could keep up with Canc I thought this might be a good way to point out how wrong they are.

Ah well. For the record, I think Cavendish might need up to 3 guys in front of him to make him as aerodynamic as Cancellare over a long course, because Cavendish spends most of his time practicing hiding in the peleton. You just don't get good at tt riding unless you do it alot, and Cancellara is the best.