• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Teams & Riders Mark Cavendish Discussion Thread

Page 107 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Didnt seem to have any gas left at the end of the stage to sprint. Either that or he was too scared after yesterday when the guy in front of him started moving across slightly as he opened up his sprint. Either way, can't see him making Tour selection with Landa looking half decent
He was too scared as usual. Had free valley on the right side to sprint but couldn't help himself. Another embarrasing showing from him, especially with the remaining sprint field. Could be top-5 easily.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: SHAD0W93
Having listened to him on Geraint and Rowe's podcast, I think his poor form is not surprising. He's always relied on racing to get his fitness up more so than other pros, and if he's in that same situation at the Tour instead of a relatively small race for him, I think he goes for it. The bigger concern is he also didn't seem to have the legs.

I think not being selected for Tokyo 20 was also a major setback to his motivation.

I've maintained hope for a comeback given that he's looked decent on the track, but yesterday was a major red flag. Build for Giro/Vuelta stages, I think he could maybe still get a couple of stages there with some good prep, but those last 4 tour stages are looking increasingly out of reach
 
He was in great position, going into the final 1500m (after headbutting again, but whatever), and even before the actual sprint started, he had to let go because he couldn't follow the tempo. What is this?

That´s not a mental problem. He just lacks the power. He is not scared and fights for a good position. Compare that to Greipel who is not willing to fit for position and starts most sprints from way behind but at least has the speed to make up some ground and finish inside the top 10.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ppanther92
I think there's a couple reasons besides age because he has shown in his Instagram this year he was still motivated to train.
  1. Having mono severally hampered his racing shape.
  2. The crashes on top of the mono caused him to suffer more.
  3. His severe lack of racing days since 2017 from the above points. We can talk all we want about everyone losing racing days but his is substantial.
  4. Maybe mentally he's worried because he does have the family and he doesn't want to crash and injure himself with his poor form.
  5. Maybe he is worried if he actually sprinted the results he would get. He talked about his depression and that he wants to prove everyone that doubted him wrong and that he can still compete. But deep down he has to know the last 3 years has not been in his favor. Maybe he has not come to terms with the position he is in as a rider now. Maybe he doesn't want to see that his shape right now isn't the Mark Cavendish of old. And maybe, he's afraid of what he actually is now and doesn't want to show it by actually sprinting so he can hold out hope that he can return to his old self.

It makes me sad, each day he races I look at procycling to see his result, each day hoping he performed better. I hope he can win again but realistically it will be very hard. No one else has brought the joy that he did when he won 4 stages in 2016 or his lone win in 2015. I was always rooting for him since 2009 and still will. But maybe it is time for Mark and I to let go of the Manx Missile and he retire so he can spend more time with his family.
 
Today was sad to watch, but a lot of positives too. He wasn't afraid to fight for position against Bouhanni, he just lacked the power to keep the pace. But that's not a surprise, given that he needs racing to build form, he's said multiple times that he's not good at training on the home trainer.

He's so tactically savvy at this point of his career, and if he is motivated next season, he should be able to win some of those small shitty races that he'd avoid earlier in his career. I still think at top form, he could nab a stage here or there in some bigger races if the stars align, but he's gotta consider whether thats worthwhile for him over spending long lost time with the family.
 
Like a lot of you guys, I'm starting to feel sad for Cav. I'm sure age is catching up with him, along with his mental state (more risk averse due to family and previous crashes). To me, it looks like he's not even trying any more. That's the sad thing about this, he just seems to have lost his will to fight.
I am no fan of Cav, in fact when he was dominating, I really disliked him. He was so cocky, but he did have the goods to back it up. He is really one of the top sprinters of all time, but now he is a shell of his former self. I think he is doing damage to his legacy at this point. It would be sad for people to remember him as a has-been instead of the incredible sprinter that he was. He needs to get out now, while he still has some dignity left. At this rate, the peloton may end up letting him get one last win, like when they put in a special needs kid in a basketball game in the last seconds to score a basket. It's time to move on man...
 

TRENDING THREADS