Teams & Riders Mark Cavendish Discussion Thread

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/video-clips-of-all-29-mark-cavendish-tour-de-france-stage-wins/

Pick your top three in order.

? They're all the same.

Then you don't understand the nature of sprinting at all.

 

[SlickMongoose]

Re:

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/video-clips-of-all-29-mark-cavendish-tour-de-france-stage-wins/

Pick your top three in order.

1. 2010 Champs Elysees: Renshaw has been sent home, Cav's too far back going into the final bend, three of the best sprinters of their generation in front of him, and he goes past them as if they're not moving.

2. 2012 stage 18: I still feel a little sorry for the break.

3. 2016 stage 1: Beats the previously unbeatable Kittel by two bike lengths.

 

[Nick C.]

I used to put up the argument that Cav was beating up on lesser competition than Cipo. Cipo was competing with Zabel, Toms Steels, Moncassin, Abdu among others. Cav had Farrar and Bennatti in their primes, along with an older or more classics oriented Petaccchi, Boonen or Hushovd, with some of the others being teammates for several years (Goss and Griepel). This Tour minimizes that argument considerably.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but the WCs this year finally got interesting now Cavendish looks as good as Kittel. Pressure on GB to make a good enough train for him since I don't trust train-surfing as a Plan A. Between Stannard, Rowe, Thomas, Dowsett, Cummings, and perhaps even Wiggins (I can never remember the qualification rules) there's a good combination of workers and strongmen able to create or exploit echelons. The proper leading-out could be done by Blythe, McLay, Fenn, Swift, and Doull. I don't know if Fenn even counts as a sprinter anymore, but he does seem to have a speciality in moving Viviani up the bunch at about 3km to go and positioning him on the right wheel by 2km to go, so he certainly could have a use. I don't know that Blythe or McLay are ideal lead-out men, even if the former is employed in that role now. On the few occasions Sky have a team built around Viviani, Swift is the last man and seems to do well. Doull is largely an unknown quantity but again, GB doesn't have many sprinters and he did well in the Tour of Britain last year.

I'd take Blythe and stick him in the break. GB must be thinking they have a chance now rather than also rans.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Renshaw out, crap news

 

[blackcat]

What team could Dimension Data put around Cav in 2017

I think Cav still has a few years left in him, and he may need a stronger support team at Dimension Data, I am sure Cav would be willing to take unders to get more support thru the door, and the principal of the team would gladly sell out his African project for a super team in the Protour, because it was just an expedient marketing line to get the $$$ thru the door in the first instance,

so lets name some riders

McLay, have to be a priority
Alex Dowsett
Tony Martin
Ian Stannard
Ben Swift
Chris Sutton
Adam Hansen
Luke Durbridge
Marcel Seiberg
Marcus Burghardt
Daryl Impey

 

[Ramon Koran]

Impey, Martin and Dowsett seem the most likely, can't see Stannard or Swift leaving sky nor can i see hansen leaving lotto. Not sure about Burghardt or Seilburg. Would McLay be prepared to act as lead out? I doubt it but you never know.

 

[BigMac]

Let McLay be. He should ride for himself, not be part of a sprint train. Same applies for Swift.

No thanks.

 

[SlickMongoose]

Cav seems to like the atmosphere at the moment. Why change that and add a ton of pressure? I guess they could do with 1 extra guy to help control things on the flat, but I don't think they should build the whole team around him.

And I like DD as they are. 4 or 5 guys for the sprint train, plus a few stage hunters, makes for a more entertaining team. They just need to add a solid GC guy.

 

[blackcat]

Re:

Cav seems to like the atmosphere at the moment. Why change that and add a ton of pressure? I guess they could do with 1 extra guy to help control things on the flat, but I don't think they should build the whole team around him.

And I like DD as they are. 4 or 5 guys for the sprint train, plus a few stage hunters, makes for a more entertaining team. They just need to add a solid GC guy.

if anyone can handle the ton of pressure, it is the manxman.

cav eats pressure like conflakes for breafast


cav ftw

 

[HelloDolly]

If it aint broke

Plus Tony Martin is foing to Bora and I am sure doesn't want to be a Cav dom

 

[SlickMongoose]

Re: Re:

Cav seems to like the atmosphere at the moment. Why change that and add a ton of pressure? I guess they could do with 1 extra guy to help control things on the flat, but I don't think they should build the whole team around him.

And I like DD as they are. 4 or 5 guys for the sprint train, plus a few stage hunters, makes for a more entertaining team. They just need to add a solid GC guy.

if anyone can handle the ton of pressure, it is the manxman.

cav eats pressure like conflakes for breafast


cav ftw

He used to...... These days he seems to like to be a bit more chill. I'm sure he could cope, but why risk it? It seems fine as it is.

 

[Pricey_sky]

I'm happy for Cav to continue like he has been at Dimension, it does seem like there's slightly less pressure on him but he still has some solid riders like Eisel, Eddy Boss and Renshaw to help him.

The old HTC days are a thing of the past, I've really enjoyed these sprints at the Tour where most sprinters have maybe 1 or 2 helpers in the final K and it gets a bit messy. Cav is great at finding the right wheel and positioning himself where he needs to be.

 

[avanti]

Theo Boss rides for DD - could he help Cavendish in a sprint (at least for classics)?

 

[jmdirt]

The team looks good so far this TdF!

 

[pastronef]

Re: What team could Dimension Data put around Cav in 2017

I think Cav still has a few years left in him, and he may need a stronger support team at Dimension Data, I am sure Cav would be willing to take unders to get more support thru the door, and the principal of the team would gladly sell out his African project for a super team in the Protour, because it was just an expedient marketing line to get the $$$ thru the door in the first instance,

so lets name some riders

McLay, have to be a priority
Alex Dowsett
Tony Martin
Ian Stannard
Ben Swift
Chris Sutton
Adam Hansen
Luke Durbridge
Marcel Seiberg
Marcus Burghardt
Daryl Impey

CJ retired last year. he's not racing anymore

 

[TMP402]

It would be a surprise for Sieberg to leave Greipel for a rival sprinter, no? I wonder about Sabatini. Cavendish specifically requested him at EQS and now everyone seems to think he does a horrible job, so to kill two birds with one stone, he should move to DD.

 

[movingtarget]

Cavendish does not need a train to win. I would leave it alone. All he needs is a good pilot fish like Renshaw !

 

[Samamba]

Re:

It would be a surprise for Sieberg to leave Greipel for a rival sprinter, no?

Sieberg has a contract for 2017 & 2018 (he signed it together with Greipel) and even if he didn't have one, he would never betray Greipel by riding for his main rival. Never going to happen.
Hansen has a contract too btw.

 

[Tonton]

I moved the new Cav thread to the main thread.

 

[RedheadDane]

It might also be possible that some of the riders mentioned actually quite like being on their current teams.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

It might also be possible that some of the riders mentioned actually quite like being on their current teams.

Im sure a lot of them like money more than their current team

 

[Homo Helveticus]

Re: Re:

It might also be possible that some of the riders mentioned actually quite like being on their current teams.

Im sure a lot of them like money more than their current team

It's not all about the money. If you want money there are many jobs that pay better and demand less effort than cycling, especially for doms. Cyclists are in it for the sporting challenge

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

It might also be possible that some of the riders mentioned actually quite like being on their current teams.

Im sure a lot of them like money more than their current team

It's not all about the money. If you want money there are many jobs that pay better and demand less effort than cycling, especially for doms. Cyclists are in it for the sporting challenge

I said that a lot would like money more than their current team, not a lot would like money more than a career in cycling.

 

[blackcat]

bovine scatology merge


p'raps Quebekha get back Gerald Ciolek