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Teams & Riders Mark Cavendish Discussion Thread

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The weird thing about his longevity is that it really didn't seem to be that extraordinary earlier in his career. He stopped being the clear number 1 sprinter in the world 12 years ago and people pretty much agreed he was past his prime and surpassed by younger talent like Kittel 9 years ago. Then he pulled the 2016 Tour out of his hat which was subsequently seen as his last hurrah. That was 8 years ago. If he retires in 2020 after trying to get back to the top but never making it his career trajectory would have been extremely ordinary. But instead he once again has a great Tour out of nowhere in 2021 and has surfed that wave all the way to this year.

It's unreal how often people have written him off. It's even more unreal to think of how different cycling was when he first started to win. He got his first stage win when the Tour was fought out between Carlos Sastre, Cadel Evans and Bernhard Kohl. He has now won a stage in a Tour in which Juan Ayuso is a podium contender, a rider that was 5 years old at the time. That kind of longevity for a sprinter is simply unheard of.
 

Cavendish emotionally stating that this might have been his last race as a professional cyclist

How times have changed

To think how much has changed in my own life since we first saw him winning back in 08 - the longevity is just crazy
 
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Wow that was emotional, still time for 36 ?
Today wasn’t some freak thing. Cavendish has still got the straight speed to compete for stages. All his ups and downs have somewhat dampened just how dominant he has always been in sprints when he is at his best. He is older and his reflexes aren’t what they used to be, but he is still extremely fast. What separates him from aging sprinters in the past is that Cavendish has never lost his nerve. Most guys can still ride fast as they age, it’s the deterioration of their other skills and the fact that as they get older, the risks of a sprint finish become more clear.

Cavendish has never lost his nerve in sprints. The crashes that could’ve mentally finished lesser riders didn’t dull his ability to block it out.
 
Wow that was emotional, still time for 36 ?
With the weight of breaking the record off his shoulder, then I don't think we should bet against him for tomorrow either. Maybe Saturday as well.

As long as he doesn't start too hungover tomorrow, that is.

I thought this chance was gone, I thought the Champs Elysées a couple of years ago was 'the' moment. A pity that it's in a relatively nondescript week 1 stage, because had he broken it on the Champs Elysées back then, that clip would have become part of the annual Tour hype package until the day we all die. The still image for this one will live on for years, though - good in that respect that it was a comfortable enough distance for him to be able to celebrate and give an iconic picture of victory rather than a "did he get it or not?" bike throw.
 
I knew he could win but thought that today would be a tune up for the win after missing out on it stage 3. Incredible career and longevity for a specialty that isn’t kind the older you get. 2 more to catch and 3 to pass Cipo on GT stage wins. From today and based off his experience it looks like he can win some more with the only threat being the time limit. If he racks them up could also be in the hunt for green but that’s even more of a long shot. Hoping he can get 3-5 more wins this edition then do the Vuelta and get a win there before retiring.


Very happy he decided to keep going after thoughts of retiring in 2020.
 
I knew he could win but thought that today would be a tune up for the win after missing out on it stage 3. Incredible career and longevity for a specialty that isn’t kind the older you get. 2 more to catch and 3 to pass Cipo on GT stage wins. From today and based off his experience it looks like he can win some more with the only threat being the time limit. If he racks them up could also be in the hunt for green but that’s even more of a long shot. Hoping he can get 3-5 more wins this edition then do the Vuelta and get a win there before retiring.


Very happy he decided to keep going after thoughts of retiring in 2020.
Too much need for fighting for the intermediates to think about green I think. If he's targeting green he'll go for them and it'll be about collecting placements where necessary, if he's eyeing Cipo's record he probably doesn't want to waste energy before the stage win sprint by paying the intermediates enough attention to be in the mix for green.
 
Too much need for fighting for the intermediates to think about green I think. If he's targeting green he'll go for them and it'll be about collecting placements where necessary, if he's eyeing Cipo's record he probably doesn't want to waste energy before the stage win sprint by paying the intermediates enough attention to be in the mix for green.
Cipo's GT record is the final frontier, which noone's really been talking about. Was secretly hoping he'd recover and go to the vuelta last year or in 2022.

(Well and olympic gold, but can't have it all :p)