Teams & Riders Mark Cavendish Discussion Thread

[MartinGT]

Once Mark wins the gold for Sky his real purpose at Sky will be gone. Bradley (mini Paul Weller in training) is the poster boy for Sky and he's easier to manage than Cav.

Deal will be done and announced after Olympics and we'll see if British soccer style "transfer fee" is actually announced. Mark might have to officially buy out his contract to keep the UCI happy but its a transfer fee by another name. I'd guess $5 million Euros.

far too many Sky & July Fan bois on here man.

You do realise he is riding for GB in the olympics? Not Sky?

Cav could and should retire the most succesful sprinter of all time, he will not acheive that with Sky due to their GC ambitions.

Yes hes had some good stuff this season, but he didnt hit MSR in the WC jersey he wanted, he won the GC of Ster ZLM Toer despite not winning a single stage and has won Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne.

At this years Tour he won on the Champs and won Stage 2 & 18. With a dedicated or more dedicated train, he could of had another 3 stages.

The Giro he won two stages and held the jersey for 10 stages IIRC?

He needs to move. The move was never going to work at all, Sky had too many GC aspirations. If Cav has a good team around him he can take the Maglia rosso passione and become one of the true greats alongside Abdoujaparov, Jalabert, Merckx and yes Petacchi.

At Sky he will go down as winning stages here and there, but he should be winning the overall of the GT's.

 

[MartinGT]

It's interesting that Cav's last two wins have been long sprints when you consider the lead-out he is likely to get in the Olympics. The last man next week is likely to be Wiggins, which means that Cav will either have to get on another lead-out train or sprint long himself. Frankly I'm surprised that they didn't take Swift, but it seems they are planning to use the team to get Cav near the finish and let him do the rest on his own.

Isnt Swift riding track?

 

[piemonster]

Did somebody mention Boonen?

I can see Sagan doing this to Cav sometime soon

 

[spalco]

I think the deal with Sky may have been a one-year agreement anyway. Getting Cav the WC for promotional value to the team, and then working together optimally for the Olympics to maximise the exposure of the sport to the general British public, plus a "plan B" for the Tour if the Wiggins-GC thing doesn't work out for some reason.

Neither party gains much from extending the partnership any further.

 

[hfer07]

Brailsford says he can leave...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18949125

not surprised to read this-It was going to happen sooner since Sky seems to understand clearly the overall picture of cycling & what truly satisfies the sponsors as far as goals & achievements. Brailsford is aware of the new found potential & has broaden the team's ambitions to an entire new level where he can truly fight for "all GTs" all year round, in all fronts. There is also the "high maintenance darling" issue with Cav at Sky- where the team's approach does not have room for that kind of treatment, and of course, the ego & self righteousness can be a distraction for the mayor objectives set by Brailsford.....

 

[johnnycash]

I think the deal with Sky may have been a one-year agreement anyway. Getting Cav the WC for promotional value to the team, and then working together optimally for the Olympics to maximise the exposure of the sport to the general British public, plus a "plan B" for the Tour if the Wiggins-GC thing doesn't work out for some reason.

Neither party gains much from extending the partnership any further.

Think you're mistaken, Cav has said in interviews that Sky are unlikely to get their train right in 2012, more likely for 2013. Which would indicate he's there for a while.

Cav's tour performance, for me, was better in 2012 than in 2010 or 2011 due to nature of his role in the team. He's also proved he's willing to support the team and can actually climb a bit.

 

[johnnycash]

I agree about the "monument" thing, but Sky did win him the WC (I'm convinced they would not have gone all out like that without him signing for Sky), and if Cavendish wins, Sky have will played a big role in winning the Olympic gold as well.

Are you referring to the World Champs in Copenhagen, and if so how exactly did Sky win him that race?

They controlled a bunch sprint but thats it, if I remember lightly he was left high and dry at the finish, hardly a slick lead out. And Millar was a key member of that team too.

 

[MartinGT]

Think you're mistaken, Cav has said in interviews that Sky are unlikely to get their train right in 2012, more likely for 2013. Which would indicate he's there for a while.

Cav's tour performance, for me, was better in 2012 than in 2010 or 2011 due to nature of his role in the team. He's also proved he's willing to support the team and can actually climb a bit.

So youre saying him winning 3 stages in this tour is better than winning 5 in 2010 and finishing 2nd on the Green or winning 5 in 2011 and winning the Green?

 

[zigzag wanderer]

I think the deal with Sky may have been a one-year agreement anyway. Getting Cav the WC for promotional value to the team, and then working together optimally for the Olympics to maximise the exposure of the sport to the general British public, plus a "plan B" for the Tour if the Wiggins-GC thing doesn't work out for some reason.

Neither party gains much from extending the partnership any further.

It's also worth remembering that Stage 1 of next year's Tour is a sprint - if Cav wins for Sky then they could be looking at trying to defend yellow for the full 3 weeks.

Also Stage 4 is (I think) a TTT and while Cav is hardly a liability in TTT's Sky do have riders like Thomas and Dowsett who would improve the team in that regard.

 

[johnnycash]

So youre saying him winning 3 stages in this tour is better than winning 5 in 2010 and finishing 2nd on the Green or winning 5 in 2011 and winning the Green?

I'm not saying its 'better' as obviously a Green jersey is better than no Green jersey, my view is that his performance in this tour deserves more credit, in my view, than in many of his previous ones when you consider what support he has had. Take away that crash and he could have won two more stages but 3 is impressive enough, and thats without the awesome HTC train.

As well as the results, the fact the world champion and the top sprinter puts aside his ego, and carries bottles, does stints on the front and takes what modest opportunties are presented, is a credit to him.

 

[MartinGT]

I'm not saying its 'better' as obviously a Green jersey is better than no Green jersey, my view is that his performance in this tour deserves more credit, in my view, than in many of his previous ones when you consider what support he has had. Take away that crash and he could have won two more stages but 3 is impressive enough, and thats without the awesome HTC train.

As well as the results, the fact the world champion and the top sprinter puts aside his ego, and carries bottles, does stints on the front and takes what modest opportunties are presented, is a credit to him.

Agreed. Cav is a serious team player more than people think. He can also win without a dedicated train.

However, with a train he can win a hell of a lot more.

 

[BillytheKid]

So youre saying him winning 3 stages in this tour is better than winning 5 in 2010 and finishing 2nd on the Green or winning 5 in 2011 and winning the Green?

Perhaps only in the sense of the Olympic RR. 2012 included more uphill drags that don't favor him as well. Being a part of team that won the race, and having three stages to boot, is as good as it can get.

 

[Morbius]

Isnt Swift riding track?

No - he didn't make the cut

 

[CQmanager]

First of all, I dont think Cav is able to win the green jersey again as long Sagan is around. On second note, I dont want to see eight guys dragging this fatty around and ruining breakaway chances for many. Since this year Tour was pretty boring, I was happy to see some breaks let go. Just imagine there was HTC train bringing all those back. This Tour would suck even more.

 

[johnnycash]

First of all, I dont think Cav is able to win the green jersey again as long Sagan is around. On second note, I dont want to see eight guys dragging this fatty around and ruining breakaway chances for many. Since this year Tour was pretty boring, I was happy to see some breaks let go. Just imagine there was HTC train bringing all those back. This Tour would suck even more.

I'd agree as long as Cav rides for Sky. If he gets a dedicated team build around him, he can beat Sagan for Green. This year he could hardly contest any intermediate sprints, so lost out a lot of points, and they added up for Sagan. Saying that I thought Sagan in this tour was pure class.

 

[barmaher]

Is Cavendish riding the Vuelta?

Sky squad will be interesting for this race.

 

[Catwhoorg]

No official word either way, but it seems likely.

Wouldn't put it past him and Bernie (and barring illness/injury) joining the list of folks who completed all 3 GTs in a single year.

Respecting the WC jersey in that way.

 

[JRanton]

Is Cavendish riding the Vuelta?

Sky squad will be interesting for this race.

I'm 99% sure that him and Wiggins will be riding the Tour of Britain which starts on the final day of the Vuelta.

Vuelta squad will look something like this: Froome, Uran, Henao, Nordhaug, Lovkvist, Zandio, Flecha, Thomas, Swift

 

[Holtend]

Brailsfords comments would seem to suggest Cav + SKY will be going their separate ways.
With SKY wanting to focus on GC's they probably wouldn't even take Cav to next years tour.
This tour I really missed HTC and their immense strength in chasing down so many breakaways.
I know I'm probably in the minority but I would love him to have a whole team again with 1 aim, getting him stage wins

As for him targetting the Olympic Road Race, I can see him doing it.
At last years Worlds he was under so much pressure to deliver, and all the other countries knew GB's plan and they weren't able to dispupt it.
So I really hope he gets his 1st Gold, as for the TT I would rather Martin or Cancellara win than Wiggo...he's won enough this year!

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

I can't see any conflict of interests if Cav and Froome both wish to do the Vuelta, Froome doesn't need much mountain support and putting riders like Pate, Flecha and Stannard in the team would help protect him on the 150km of flat on each stage before the final climb. I see no point in picking someone like Lofkvist as he would just be dropped before he was able to contribute anything of any use.

 

[argyllflyer]

I'm 99% sure that him and Wiggins will be riding the Tour of Britain which starts on the final day of the Vuelta.

So is Wiggins not doing the World Championship TT? It's same day as ToB final stage I think (16/9).

 

[barmaher]

I'm 99% sure that him and Wiggins will be riding the Tour of Britain which starts on the final day of the Vuelta.

Vuelta squad will look something like this: Froome, Uran, Henao, Nordhaug, Lovkvist, Zandio, Flecha, Thomas, Swift

Thank you, this is very helpful.

 

[Catwhoorg]

So is Wiggins not doing the World Championship TT? It's same day as ToB final stage I think (16/9).

That's the Team Time Trial

ITT is a few days later.

 

[argyllflyer]

That's the Team Time Trial

ITT is a few days later.

so it is, totally read them back to front!

Would be great if both can do the ToB then.

Though would he not be a pretty good candidate for Sky's Team Time Trial?

 

[kurtinsc]

I'd agree as long as Cav rides for Sky. If he gets a dedicated team build around him, he can beat Sagan for Green. This year he could hardly contest any intermediate sprints, so lost out a lot of points, and they added up for Sagan. Saying that I thought Sagan in this tour was pure class.

Just a point, but Cav ended up finishing with 220 points to 280 for Sagan. Simply put, if Cav was able to make the finish line on the stages he crashed on (stage 4 and stage 6) and finish ahead of Sagan, he would have won green this year.

With someone like Sagan there he can't afford to miss sprints due to crashes. But if he doesn't miss sprints, he can still win green over Sagan as long as he is clearly faster in the sprints. Even if he placed just BEHIND Sagan in those sprints, he would have added 55 points. Just a single intermediate sprint that he didn't take part in due to being out of the competition could make up that 5 point difference.