Teams & Riders Mark Cavendish Discussion Thread

[TMP402]

I guess you were right. Oh dear. So why is he planning on doing more track events? Can't the team be decisive enough to bring this misery to an end? Clancy/Dibben for fifth man.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

I guess you were right. Oh dear. So why is he planning on doing more track events? Can't the team be decisive enough to bring this misery to an end? Clancy/Dibben for fifth man.

It seems there is a possibility to add an extra rider if they ride on the road, so maybe he was hoping to be the overall pick for the omnium, they take 5 for the TP and he rides the road race. Of course, they could do that with Dibben, Tennant, Doull etc.


In all honesty it all seems very strange to me anyway, I kind of wonder if he's being encouraged to compete because of the media side of the GB cycling management...

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

I guess you were right. Oh dear. So why is he planning on doing more track events? Can't the team be decisive enough to bring this misery to an end? Clancy/Dibben for fifth man.

It seems there is a possibility to add an extra rider if they ride on the road, so maybe he was hoping to be the overall pick for the omnium, they take 5 for the TP and he rides the road race. Of course, they could do that with Dibben, Tennant, Doull etc.


In all honesty it all seems very strange to me anyway, I kind of wonder if he's being encouraged to compete because of the media side of the GB cycling management...

Well Sky are ending sponsorship of Team GB at some point, that could certainly be a theory if they need a new sponsor.

 

[jaylew]

Cav is riding Roubaix, supporting EBH and looking at the possibility of making it a goal in the future.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Cav is riding Roubaix, supporting EBH and looking at the possibility of making it a goal in the future.

Interesting...guess he knows he's losing his edge as far as top end speed is concerned. It will be interesting to see what he can do there.

 

[jsem94]

Since he's not as quick as he were before, maybe shifting focus to cobbles might be a good career move. A PR win would put him > Cipo for me. But he would have to overcome the likes of Sagan, Vanmarcke, GVA once Boonen and Cance quit.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Since he's not as quick as he were before, maybe shifting focus to cobbles might be a good career move. A PR win would put him > Cipo for me. But he would have to overcome the likes of Sagan, Vanmarcke, GVA once Boonen and Cance quit.

Even if he doesn't win PR, shifting his focus to cobbles will open up races such as GW, which are perfect for a sprinter who can survive cobbles

 

[Cannibal72]

It really wouldn't surprise me if there's a Roubaix in the next five or ten years that ends in a bunch sprint, especially when Cance retires and if Quick Step prove equally inept at getting people clear in the future; the new breed of classics contenders seems to contain more speed than time triallers, so a lot of teams will be working for a sprint. The issue then would be whether Cavendish's top end sprint after 250km of hell is enough to compare with Degenkolb, Kristoff, Sagan, and Trentin, which I'm somewhat sceptical of since he can no longer always beat them after 250km of manicured asphalt. But what Cavendish can remember is that Stuart O'Grady's won this race, and we're overdue a sprint.

 

[jmdirt]

That was a good sprint for MC today. He used the others well. Before you even type it, I know MK wasn't there, but the three big dogs at this race had a nice head to head to head.

 

[TMP402]

Good sprint. I find it disappointing that we haven't seen him with a proper sprint train, certainly nothing to rival Kittel, which I thought was much of the reason for moving to DD. I hope I'm wrong but it feels like the TDF is going to be a lot of Cavendish and/or Greipel being left to fight for Kittel's wheel and inevitably coming second most of the time. I was hoping for an equal battle between MK/MK/AG.

 

[jmdirt]

So I wonder how his track focus will affect him at the TdF? His sprint could be really sharp, but his endurance could be the question.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

So I wonder how his track focus will affect him at the TdF? His sprint could be really sharp, but his endurance could be the question.

He could lead out for EBH....maybe that way they'll manage a top 5 in the sprint stages and a win in one of the hillier stages.

 

[BigMac]

Take that, you doubters!

Kittel rekt.

 

[MatParker117]

Greatest ever.

 

[PremierAndrew]

The Scheldeprijs showed us that Cav is better than the gorilla and definitely capable of challenging Kittel. That was a one-off result before today, so needed to be taken with a pinch of salt. But I think today confirms that

 

[Microchip]

He did great.

 

[Pricey_sky]

My dad adored the Tour, Cav was also my dads favourite current rider.

First Tour since he passed there was surely something written in the stars about today. He'd have been jumping for joy at that finish. Definitely brought a tear to the eye.

Great win.

 

[Jspear]

Take that, you doubters!

Kittel rekt.

I'm very glad to have been proven wrong!

I know plenty don't on this forum, but I really like Cav.

 

[BigMac]

Re:

My dad adored the Tour, Cav was also my dads favourite current rider.

First Tour since he passed there was surely something written in the stars about today. He'd have been jumping for joy at that finish. Definitely brought a tear to the eye.

Great win.

Cheers Pricey, hope your father is thrilled with joy, wherever he might be.

 

[SlickMongoose]

So happy for him.

Only 1 more to tie Hinault....

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Greatest ever.

Maybe if he wins in Doha or overtakes Merckx's tally of Tour stage wins before the end of his career. Until then, I'll give the edge to Cipo

 

[Oliwright]

Re:

My dad adored the Tour, Cav was also my dads favourite current rider.

First Tour since he passed there was surely something written in the stars about today. He'd have been jumping for joy at that finish. Definitely brought a tear to the eye.

Great win.

Sorry to hear that!

Biggest win of Cav's career. WC & MSR were massive but they came at time when everything in Cav's career was going his own way. This completes the professional cycling set for Cav!

He hasn't looked this good since 2012, it's crucial for his career as a lot of ppl including me thought he was past it. Its massive as it promises so much for the next few years!

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

My dad adored the Tour, Cav was also my dads favourite current rider.

First Tour since he passed there was surely something written in the stars about today. He'd have been jumping for joy at that finish. Definitely brought a tear to the eye.

Great win.

Sorry to hear that!

Biggest win of Cav's career. WC & MSR were massive but they came at time when everything in Cav's career was going his own way. This completes the professional cycling set for Cav!

He hasn't looked this good since 2012, it's crucial for his career as a lot of ppl including me thought he was past it. Its massive as it promises so much for the next few years!

Really nice to see him win again, but I couldn't disagree more with the idea that this is biggest win. You could come up with similar reasons for describing his first Tour stage win as his biggest and be exactly as wrong. This win has some special surrounding circumstances that make it stand out a little among his stage wins, but is still ultimately one Tour de France stage among 27.

 

[carolina]

is there something still missing from his palmarés, besides an olympic gold?

 

[SlickMongoose]

Re:

is there something still missing from his palmarés, besides an olympic gold?

Pfffft. Until he overtakes Merckx, he's a nobody.