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Teams & Riders Mark Cavendish Discussion Thread

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thehog said:
This is the same silliness that Armstrong used to basically be a pr1c to everyone. Then Contador comes along and shows you can win without ridicule.

Today Guardini showed what it is to be a gracious winner. He speaks very well, praises his opponents and loves his sport. He's 22 and full of sublime energy. And I'll tell you something else for free... he's darn exciting to watch minus the massive sprint train.

Cav has a lot to learn and most of it is off the bike. I think he just met his match.

If anything Cavendish is scared of what he saw today.

And Twitter is not a way to communicate to human beings. Another dreadful Armstrong hangover.

I agree that being gracious is better!

Big difference between LA and Cav is that everything Lance did and still does is calculated ... Cav is much more "what you see is what you get"... For me I find this more authentic and actually likeable - but i know others will disagree.

T
 
Jul 30, 2009
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This thread really cracks me up.

Of course Cav doesn't like to lose. Thats why he is such a prolific winner.

What would his team mates think if he just shrugged it off, and said 'oh well'.

They've been working their boll0cks off for him all day haven't they?

Come on guys get real. You don't like the guy, fair enough. Just get on with your lives and stop posting such cr@p.
 
cineteq said:
325pic281198666.jpg

Love the pic.
Cav isn't a gracious winner, but I'm ok with that. Everyone is different and Cav just hates losing.
Sometimes he should better shut his mouth, but I can enjoy the crap that comes out of his mouth as well :D
 
Kwibus said:
Love the pic.
Cav isn't a gracious winner, but I'm ok with that. Everyone is different and Cav just hates losing.
Sometimes he should better shut his mouth, but I can enjoy the crap that comes out of his mouth as well :D

that's how a man should act when he lose, not in andy-alberto style in 2010.hated that big time
cav is a real man,chapeau!
 
Apr 10, 2011
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jens_attacks said:
that's how a man should act when he lose, not in andy-alberto style in 2010.hated that big time
cav is a real man,chapeau!

Excatly. You race to win. Not to come 2nd. I think it's good to show emotion when you loose just after the race.
 
May 1, 2012
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Normally don't post on here but there is so much rubbish being written i felt i had to!

Cavendish has to be super confident, as a sprinter he may often have the responsibility of his whole team (plus the team staff - and everyone's salaries) on his shoulders, if he doesn't believe he can finish it off in the last 200m then he's got a major problem and probably won't. He can be objective and assess truly how good he was after he's retired, now he has to believe that he can/will win every sprint he is in. If that offends these web-heroes then so be it.

This isn't the end of Cav, I think he's 'just about' proven that he has more than just talent. Lets see how Guardini copes when everyone is watching him in every sprint finish and the weight of the team, sometimes the nation, are on his shoulders. Cav has delivered too many times to be written off.
 
Jul 16, 2010
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Andy99 said:
This thread really cracks me up.

Of course Cav doesn't like to lose. Thats why he is such a prolific winner.

What would his team mates think if he just shrugged it off, and said 'oh well'.

They've been working their boll0cks off for him all day haven't they?

Come on guys get real. You don't like the guy, fair enough. Just get on with your lives and stop posting such cr@p.

Are you saying guys like Boonen, Gilbert and Contador aren't prolific winners? None of them are big jerks when they lose a race like Cavendish.
 
What are we hating on Cav for today? Plenty of other riders punch the bars and are generally angry when they have just come second in a sprint... is it just that or has he said something stupid? I've only seen the quotes on CN where he admits Guardini was the fastest rider today and he was angry because he doesn't like losing.
 
Feb 28, 2010
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Machu Picchu said:
Love the 'his temper/anger problems are what makes him a winner' rubbish, like an abused "hits me cause loves me so much" :rolleyes:

Some years ago I read an article written by a sports psychologist about John McEnroe and his outbursts. It suggested that the outbursts motivated McEnroe, but demotivated his opponents, they were actually part of his strategy for winning.
 
Aug 18, 2009
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Machu Picchu said:
Love the 'his temper/anger problems are what makes him a winner' rubbish, like an abused "hits me cause loves me so much" :rolleyes:

I buy it. Not like you NEED to be a bad loser to be successful, but it's not a huge surprise that someone who, for a living, has to fight his way through a speeding peloton and then overpower his rivals, with a certain risk always present, and enjoys close to monopolistic success: that he's a bit overcompetitive, a bit of a hot head. These are the people tat actually want to do these things. I definitely doesn't hurt to be aggressive as a sprinter.
 
May 1, 2012
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He's as respectful as you could expect for an athelete in his sport in defeat.

In F1 Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton all take losing really well don't they? and its not as if they are the 3 best drivers .....................oh, no wait.
 
Apr 12, 2010
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ruswilks said:
What are we hating on Cav for today? Plenty of other riders punch the bars and are generally angry when they have just come second in a sprint... is it just that or has he said something stupid? I've only seen the quotes on CN where he admits Guardini was the fastest rider today and he was angry because he doesn't like losing.

+1 and a momentary snapshot doesn't always tell the whole story. This is what he actually said plus also that he had been lazy in the sprint.

"He was the fastest in a fast sprint today and certainly had more energy than me," he told Italian television reporters.

Asked why he had thumped his handlebars, he answered simply; "I don't like losing."

Leading the points competition, Cavendish said he had made a big effort to increase his lead by winning a mid-stage bonus sprint at the top of a climb.

"I used up some energy there, but I want to take the red jersey (of points competition leader) all the way to Milan."

"If it wasn't for that crash with Ferrari (on stage three), I think I'd be in a comfortable position now for the red jersey, but now I'll have to fight for it."
 
Sep 1, 2010
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Hawkwood said:
Some years ago I read an article written by a sports psychologist about John McEnroe and his outbursts. It suggested that the outbursts motivated McEnroe, but demotivated his opponents, they were actually part of his strategy for winning.

McEnroe outbursts may well have distracted his opponents but Cavs race is already over when the dummy comes out.
 
Sep 1, 2010
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taiwan said:
I buy it. Not like you NEED to be a bad loser to be successful, but it's not a huge surprise that someone who, for a living, has to fight his way through a speeding peloton and then overpower his rivals, with a certain risk always present, and enjoys close to monopolistic success: that he's a bit overcompetitive, a bit of a hot head. These are the people tat actually want to do these things. I definitely doesn't hurt to be aggressive as a sprinter.

He’s a bad loser as he seldom loses, it has nothing to do with helping him be a winner, it doesn’t mean that he has a will to win more than others and it has nothing to do with being aggressive as a sprinter.
 
Sep 1, 2010
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johnnycash said:
He's as respectful as you could expect for an athelete in his sport in defeat.

In F1 Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton all take losing really well don't they? and its not as if they are the 3 best drivers .....................oh, no wait.

Perhaps you’re right that pampered athletes are seldom gracious but that doesn’t stop it from being childish behaviour, it's also rather obvious that this is a trait to be found in winners no? :rolleyes:
 
What bothers me is that when people say they don't like Cavendish his fans say we're haters and that we have no reason to dislike him at all. Some will even ask when he's done anything we object to. Many will just say we hate excellence and winners.

See, if you don't think this is a big deal, good for you. It's *not* a big deal, after all. But it's things like this that make us like or dislike certain riders, and they're legitimate reasons to think he's a jerk.
 
Aug 18, 2009
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Machu Picchu said:
... has nothing to do with being aggressive as a sprinter.

I'd say it does. As you're crossing the line, you're unlikely to have a supreme desire to win one second and the next be completely passive, if you're human.
 
Jul 27, 2009
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So, is it true that if you accept defeat and don't act like a whiny brat that you like to lose?

Everyone in the pro peloton is highly competitive and hates to lose. It's just that some can handle a loss with poise and class like a professional. Others are "professional" only because they get paid.
 
I remember Hushovd once having a go at Peter Velits for Velits daring to sprint against him. They all get uppity at times, the stage that brought me into cycle racing saw the second place man smashing his handlebars in anger at coming second (although it was Roche's comeback that was the reason i remember it). I havent seen anyone complaining about that at all, just adds to the drama and shows how much they want it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQojh-wqL04

An unhappy Robert Millar from 15.15 onwards after there is confusion about where the stage finish is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUjZmwqOU4
 
Sep 1, 2010
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taiwan said:
I'd say it does. As you're crossing the line, you're unlikely to have a supreme desire to win one second and the next be completely passive, if you're human.

Being aggressive does not mean losing your temper, there are a lot of sports and jobs (including my own) where you need to be aggressive and assertive but also remain calm and keep your emotions in check.
 

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