mark cavendish to ride 3 GT's this year

[Parrulo]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-to-ride-giro-ditalia-tour-de-france-and-vuelta-in-2011

source

so maybe pulling out of the giro after stage 12? and then finish the tour and the vuelta?

cavendish may make sprinters stage's boring but that doesn't bother me much, i like the way he sprints, very stylish imo

 

[kurtinsc]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-to-ride-giro-ditalia-tour-de-france-and-vuelta-in-2011

source

so maybe pulling out of the giro after stage 12? and then finish the tour and the vuelta?

cavendish may make sprinters stage's boring but that doesn't bother me much, i like the way he sprints, very stylish imo

The record for most GT stage wins is 64 by Merckx. Cavendish has 22 right now at 25 years old.

Could he be thinking of challenging that record? If he can sprint at the same rate he has been and does all three GT's (pulling out of the giro early each year), it's not unreasonable to see him nearing Cippollini's 57 in 4 years while still shy of 30.

 

[LukeSchmid]

Poor Matt Goss is not going to get a shot a GT this year as lead sprinter, a shame, but if Cavendish can be successful at all three in a year he would be stupid not to do it. I think he can especially with only doing half the Giro.

 

[Cobblestoned]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-to-ride-giro-ditalia-tour-de-france-and-vuelta-in-2011

source

so maybe pulling out of the giro after stage 12? and then finish the tour and the vuelta?

cavendish may make sprinters stage's boring but that doesn't bother me much, i like the way he sprints, very stylish imo

Giro DNF, Tour complete, Vuelta perhaps DNF (was really surprising that some sprinters prefered to finish Vuelta 2010).
I predict 12 stagewins from these 3 GTs.

You call Cav "stylish" ?
He rides ugly, sits ugly and wins ugly.
Ok he is fastest and wins - but please don't call him stylish. He is just an unstylish power-gnome.

THIS is a stylish sprinter.

 

[will10]

When on form Cav is stylish, he takes very few risks when he knows he can win by lengths.

It's when his form is a little shaky that it starts getting a bit ugly.

I suspect he will only finish the Tour.

 

[nvpacchi]

The record for most GT stage wins is 64 by Merckx. Cavendish has 22 right now at 25 years old.

Could he be thinking of challenging that record? If he can sprint at the same rate he has been and does all three GT's (pulling out of the giro early each year), it's not unreasonable to see him nearing Cippollini's 57 in 4 years while still shy of 30.

Merckx did his in 16GTs, Cavendish has already participated in 8GTs... I feel for him to truly break the record he's gotta do it in the same number of GTs or less than Merckx. Thats roughly 5 stage wins a GT

 

[Boardslide]

The record for most GT stage wins is 64 by Merckx. Cavendish has 22 right now at 25 years old.

Could he be thinking of challenging that record? If he can sprint at the same rate he has been and does all three GT's (pulling out of the giro early each year), it's not unreasonable to see him nearing Cippollini's 57 in 4 years while still shy of 30.

I believe he intends to complete only the TDF and pull out early in both the Giro and Vuelta this year ready for the Worlds. However Goss would probably have a chance by going for the hillier sprints in whichever GT he takes part in.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

I suppose he wants to do the Giro because it's his "home" GT. He made it quite clear last year how displeased he was having to do the ToC for the sponsors. Also long haul travelling across many time zones is a pain in the backside for anybody, let alone a professional athlete with a much more prestigious event passing his front door.

The Tour goes without saying.

The Vuelta is a warm up for the Worlds which he has a real chance at this year.

Chasing records might be some of the motivation but there's a good reason for appearing at each of the three GTs this year.

 

[Jamsque]

Merckx did his in 16GTs, Cavendish has already participated in 8GTs... I feel for him to truly break the record he's gotta do it in the same number of GTs or less than Merckx. Thats roughly 5 stage wins a GT

Of course Cav is not going to manage it in the same timeframe as the Cannibal, but I think he has a good shot at the record if he stays healthy.

 

[kurtinsc]

Merckx did his in 16GTs, Cavendish has already participated in 8GTs... I feel for him to truly break the record he's gotta do it in the same number of GTs or less than Merckx. Thats roughly 5 stage wins a GT

Well... that would be a different record... most GT stage wins per tours ridden, not total GT stage wins. Nobody is saying he's as good as Merckx... that would be stupid. Most of the time Merckx rode, the Vuelta and Giro were at the same time too. But as it is... I can see him making a run at this one.

As it is... he's done 7 GT's I think.

2007 Tour - No stage wins, withdrew after stage 7.
2008 Giro - 2 stage wins.
2008 Tour - 4 stages wins, withdrew after stage 14.
2009 Giro - 4 stage wins, withdrew after stage 13 (one TTT).
2009 tour - 6 stage wins.
2010 tour - 5 stage wins.
2010 Vuelta - 4 stage wins (one TTT).


That's 25 wins ( I guess my other count was wrong) in about 116 or 117 stages ridden. Over a 20% win rate in GT's. Not too shabby.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Giro DNF, Tour complete, Vuelta perhaps DNF (was really surprising that some sprinters prefered to finish Vuelta 2010).
I predict 12 stagewins from these 3 GTs.

You call Cav "stylish" ?
He rides ugly, sits ugly and wins ugly.
Ok he is fastest and wins - but please don't call him stylish. He is just an unstylish power-gnome.

THIS is a stylish sprinter.

exactly. the true beautiful boulevard sprinters like cipo have almost all gone. the last one is petacchi. he doesn't even go left or right 1 inch in the sprint.

 

[Ferminal]

Goss would be a better chance of holding the Maglia Rosa up until Montevergine (assuming they win the TTT).

 

[Frosty]

I seem to recall him saying earlier in the season that he was partially doing these to improve his chances of getting a full British team in the world championships?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

When on form Cav is stylish, he takes very few risks when he knows he can win by lengths.

It's when his form is a little shaky that it starts getting a bit ugly.

I suspect he will only finish the Tour.

no he's not stylish the guys moves with every part of his body and his bike shakes and goes left and right. only boonen sprints uglier

 

[nvpacchi]

Well... that would be a different record... most GT stage wins per tours ridden, not total GT stage wins. Nobody is saying he's as good as Merckx... that would be stupid. Most of the time Merckx rode, the Vuelta and Giro were at the same time too. But as it is... I can see him making a run at this one.

As it is... he's done 7 GT's I think.

2007 Tour - No stage wins, withdrew after stage 7.
2008 Giro - 2 stage wins.
2008 Tour - 4 stages wins, withdrew after stage 14.
2009 Giro - 4 stage wins, withdrew after stage 13 (one TTT).
2009 tour - 6 stage wins.
2010 tour - 5 stage wins.
2010 Vuelta - 4 stage wins (one TTT).


That's 25 wins ( I guess my other count was wrong) in about 116 or 117 stages ridden. Over a 20% win rate in GT's. Not too shabby.

This is no knack on Cav, I agree he has the ability to break Merckx's record, but if it takes him 24 GTs to do so, it might just take away some of the luster.

I kinda see it in a similar fashion to the rushing record. Barry Sanders would have easily had it if he didn't retire after 10 seasons, but Emmitt Smith comes along and hangs on several more years after he has already faded away just to break Payton's record.

Or kind of like Vinny Testaverde is in the top 10 of almost every passing record simply because he played forever, his name's in the record books, but dominantly? thats a different story.

Cav's no doubt dominant in the sprints, but to be the best of the best, I would really like to see him do it in as dominant a fashion as possible

 

[Andy99]

I seem to recall him saying earlier in the season that he was partially doing these to improve his chances of getting a full British team in the world championships?

Yep, quite possibly. Needs to pick up World tour points to guarantee a full 8 man lead out for when he becomes world champion in Copenhagen

 

[Parrulo]

well i like it. . .

just this weekend looking at the k-b-k sprint sutton, hutarovich, farrar and greipel sprints looked weird. sutton "looks"(key word here) like contador when he is attacking almost fully up on the bike.

cavendish sprint looks very aerodynamic and too me that's more important then keeping a straight line . . . it may not be as safe but who cares? at least it makes the sprint more exciting cus it is a bomb ready to explode at any minute. i guess our definitions of style are different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCUD0CPKJSM&feature=related

how can you say that isn't a great sprinting style?

btw cavendish was able to keep a straight enough line to beat an haussler dumb enough to waste time going left and right during the entire sprint in M-SR 2009

 

[Chuffy]

"ugly power-gnome" - chortle!

For a fair comparison with Merckx' record, shouldn't we take out Eddie's mountain stage wins? Cipo's record would be a much better benchmark. One for a pub discussion perhaps...

 

[euanli]

Aye he is chasing points for GB for the Worlds and I suspect the Olympics as well.

It is in HTC interest for him to chase them as well since that is their best bet to get the World Champs.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Aye he is chasing points for GB for the Worlds and I suspect the Olympics as well.

It is in HTC interest for him to chase them as well since that is their best bet to get the World Champs.

And in the process is chasing CQ points for some of us, too.
I say go for it!
Harley, get back in the train. That's enough CQ points for you.

 

[Jamsque]

For a fair comparison with Merckx' record, shouldn't we take out Eddie's mountain stage wins? Cipo's record would be a much better benchmark. One for a pub discussion perhaps...

It's all fairly academic, but I think the comparison to Merckx is futile. Cav is obviously not the same calibre of rider and although he may one day eclipse the cannibal's GT stage victory tally it won't mean all that much.

Cipo is the more obvious point of comparison for dominant GT sprinters. Between 1989 and 2003 he won 57 Grand Tour stages, mostly at the Giro, which is a rate of a shade under 4 per year. In his four seasons as a pro, Cav already has 23 Grand Tour stage wins, not including TTTs. That's a rate of nearly six per year, which puts him comfortably ahead of Super Mario.

Obviously he is still young, and there is plenty of time for his career to go off the rails, but he has a real shot at being one of the all time great sprinters when all is said and done.

 

[Cobblestoned]

well i like it. . .

just this weekend looking at the k-b-k sprint sutton, hutarovich, farrar and greipel sprints looked weird. sutton "looks"(key word here) like contador when he is attacking almost fully up on the bike.

cavendish sprint looks very aerodynamic and too me that's more important then keeping a straight line . . . it may not be as safe but who cares? at least it makes the sprint more exciting cus it is a bomb ready to explode at any minute. i guess our definitions of style are different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCUD0CPKJSM&feature=related

how can you say that isn't a great sprinting style?

btw cavendish was able to keep a straight enough line to beat an haussler dumb enough to waste time going left and right during the entire sprint in M-SR 2009

Because we know what stylish sprinting looks like - thanks to Petacchi. (make that Cav for you)
We also know what stylish TTing looks like - thanks to Ullrich. (make that Levi L. for you)
We even know what a stylish mountainrider looks like - thanks to Pantani. (make that cuddles or Greg for you)

last but not least, we know how to generally define stylish - thanks to Senor Valverde.

Right now I am sure you have a different view of style than most people I know.

 

[The Hitch]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-to-ride-giro-ditalia-tour-de-france-and-vuelta-in-2011

source

so maybe pulling out of the giro after stage 12? and then finish the tour and the vuelta?

cavendish may make sprinters stage's boring but that doesn't bother me much, i like the way he sprints, very stylish imo

Cav said the Vuelta cost him at the worlds and that he wouldnt repeat the same mistake.

So unless the British view that the Tour is the only race that means anything whatsoever, has gotten to him, Cav is not going to be finishing the Vuelta.

 

[Cobblestoned]

"ugly power-gnome" - chortle!

For a fair comparison with Merckx' record, shouldn't we take out Eddie's mountain stage wins? Cipo's record would be a much better benchmark. One for a pub discussion perhaps...

I hope it was the correct translation and that no one is offended by this.

We call him Kraftzwerg.


Fruchtzwerg

Kraftzwerg

 

[roundabout]

Hmm, i kinda see why he felt the need to get his chompers fixed.