His team's press releases are ridiculous. They don't even make the slightest attempt at sounding genuine, as crammed full of PR talk and buzzwords as they are.Tim Booth said:
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I hope he can get back to being MC, not only for him, but for me because I like seeing 10 guys hammering toward the line with a chance to win.
Re:
Who has he been these last two years? Are you saying someone's been possessing him?
jmdirt said:
Who has he been these last two years? Are you saying someone's been possessing him?
Tonton said:
Can we really say obvious decline when looking at the past few years? It doesn't feel right to pass judgement on his abilities given the amount of bad luck crashes and of course the Epstein Barr Virus. DD will be able to compose not the best train, but a very good one; and one filled with riders he has worked with for years. Just two years ago he won four stages at the Tour (with very similar train), a WC silver, a Olympic silver. Yes, the Olympic siver was behind one of his main rivals for the upcoming season, who undoubtedly has better team support. But if Cavendish can remain healthy he should do very well, and is not yet in the same tier as Bouhanni.
I agree, it is way to early to right Cav off considering his injuries and illness. The last time people did after 15 he came back stronger than ever. In 17 and 18 he was still in posituons he could have won the stage in if he didn't have the injuries or illness. He has the drive and fire to win. If this upcoming season he performs subpar than it is fair to start righting him off.
Re:
I remember when he was riding around with a cracked rib in San Remo and made it to the base of the Poggio.SHAD0W93 said:
Exactly or finishing the Tour stage he finished well outside the time limit while sick and injured.
Tim Booth said:
Too confident maybe? Little modesty would be way more classy then this cocky attitude.
Oh and by the way, he never dominated in the sport, only in the sprints, small part of the sport.
Blanco said:
No problem with that, too many people bow to the PR machine. I like the pro's that say it how it is, there is no problem with being confident.
Blanco said:
He’s (a) a sprinter and (b) the best sprinter in the history of the sport. It would be shocking if he wasn’t cocky. It’s even a bit surprising that he’s as self aware as he seems to be.
He'll be 34 in the spring. I'd think he potentially has one or maybe two good seasons left in him, but there will be less margin for error, imo. I don't know if it's true but i somehow feel the competition now is more fierce compared to when he was top dog. Unless i'm mistaking, this in combination with his age and the fact that he doesn't have a leadout like he used to, makes me think that even if he can get back in top shape, all the pieces would need to fall into place in order to be successful.
Re:
There’s no question that the competition is tougher now. At some points in his reign the number 2 sprinter in the world wouldn’t be in the top 15 today (Farrar!). At other points the top 3 (Cav, Greipel, Kittel) were as good as anything the current field can boast, but the field after them was much, much shallower. The current field has an unprecedented depth of very fast men and an unusual lack of a firm pecking order. Cavendish was the best in history, but to be the best today, at 34, after prolonged illness, would be his biggest feat.
Logic-is-your-friend said:
There’s no question that the competition is tougher now. At some points in his reign the number 2 sprinter in the world wouldn’t be in the top 15 today (Farrar!). At other points the top 3 (Cav, Greipel, Kittel) were as good as anything the current field can boast, but the field after them was much, much shallower. The current field has an unprecedented depth of very fast men and an unusual lack of a firm pecking order. Cavendish was the best in history, but to be the best today, at 34, after prolonged illness, would be his biggest feat.
I wouldn't say he was the best ever, but of course that's impossible to establish and we'd be here all day.
In my opinion, he benefited from a combination of 3 factors:
- Extremely poor depth of sprinters at the time (even his sprint coach publicly admitted his challenge would be to keep winning 'when the quality of sprinters goes back to normal'. The only other very fast sprinter around then, was his teammate
- The best leadout train around, of a dominance that only Quickstep's leadout currently approaches
- Much more controlled modern racing that results in a lot more opportunities for sprinters
IMO it's impossible to determine who was the best ever, there are 5 or 7 names that are all at around the same level
In my opinion, he benefited from a combination of 3 factors:
- Extremely poor depth of sprinters at the time (even his sprint coach publicly admitted his challenge would be to keep winning 'when the quality of sprinters goes back to normal'. The only other very fast sprinter around then, was his teammate
- The best leadout train around, of a dominance that only Quickstep's leadout currently approaches
- Much more controlled modern racing that results in a lot more opportunities for sprinters
IMO it's impossible to determine who was the best ever, there are 5 or 7 names that are all at around the same level
Re:
True but Greipel went against him from 11 on. Heck if Cav never existed we might be talking about Greipel or Farrar as winning all those stages.
I don't think any sprint train in the past, present, and future will ever be as dominant as HTC. They literally would be the only team pacing the peloton and still have that dominant train. I believe that is why Cav failed so much at Quickstep. They tried being HTC and kept getting swarmed compared to when Kittel was there and they would go to the front in the last 2-5k.
GuyIncognito said:
True but Greipel went against him from 11 on. Heck if Cav never existed we might be talking about Greipel or Farrar as winning all those stages.
I don't think any sprint train in the past, present, and future will ever be as dominant as HTC. They literally would be the only team pacing the peloton and still have that dominant train. I believe that is why Cav failed so much at Quickstep. They tried being HTC and kept getting swarmed compared to when Kittel was there and they would go to the front in the last 2-5k.
We cannot fault a rider for the quality of their competition, you can only beat the riders next to you at the start.
In any case, Cav was (and maybe will be again) dominant enough and versatile enough that it should not matter. As highly as people rate the Tour Cav has more wins than anyone except Merckx. Points jerseys in all three grand tours, maybe most notably the hard fought 2013 Giro. A World Championship and one silver on the road, and if we want to consider the track, three more golds and another silver.
And for those who want to credit all his wins to Renshaw and the HTC train, consider his MSR win. One of the most impressive sprinting performances we have seen.
In any case, Cav was (and maybe will be again) dominant enough and versatile enough that it should not matter. As highly as people rate the Tour Cav has more wins than anyone except Merckx. Points jerseys in all three grand tours, maybe most notably the hard fought 2013 Giro. A World Championship and one silver on the road, and if we want to consider the track, three more golds and another silver.
And for those who want to credit all his wins to Renshaw and the HTC train, consider his MSR win. One of the most impressive sprinting performances we have seen.
Re:
yeah that surprises me a bit. Although I felt in his pomp he was a cut abouve the other sprinters regardless of train on the road he is the far from versatile. Maybe he will surprise by his ability to tough is out on occasion but he is still only winning sprints
tobydawq said:
yeah that surprises me a bit. Although I felt in his pomp he was a cut abouve the other sprinters regardless of train on the road he is the far from versatile. Maybe he will surprise by his ability to tough is out on occasion but he is still only winning sprints
I'm not seeing him coming back, although I hope he proves me wrong.
I don't even know if his head is even still in it enough, but I can understand not wanting to retire on a season like that.
I don't even know if his head is even still in it enough, but I can understand not wanting to retire on a season like that.
That MSR and his 2011 Tour stage 5 when are one of his best ever sprints. He was sprinting up hill, 10-15 positions back with 300 meters to go and beat a Gilbert that was a beast that year. This was the top 10 of the stage:
1. Cav
2. Gilbert
3. Rojas
4. Gallopin
5. Thomas
6. Greipel
7. Hinault
8. Bonnet
9. Oss
10. Hushovd
With Sandy Casar attempting to sprint as well.
1. Cav
2. Gilbert
3. Rojas
4. Gallopin
5. Thomas
6. Greipel
7. Hinault
8. Bonnet
9. Oss
10. Hushovd
With Sandy Casar attempting to sprint as well.
Mark Cavendish will return to Argentina and will be at the start of the Vuelta in San Juan Internacional
Diario de Cuyo
also Peter Sagan, Remco Evenepoel and Fernando Gaviria.
Diario de Cuyo
also Peter Sagan, Remco Evenepoel and Fernando Gaviria.
Tim Booth said:
Sagan has previously confirmed he would start at Tour Down Under?
Edit: Apparently they have postponed in one week in order for Sagan to be able to do both events.
Then you know a rider is important.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/no-holds-barred-the-mark-cavendish-procycling-interview/
I am one of the few that hopes he has an amazing year.
I am one of the few that hopes he has an amazing year.
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