The New World Champion! Appreciation

[patterson_hood]

Nope, but I have never heard a more cocky and brazen athlete in my life. Not in the Hinault sense, but in the sniveling premadonna way.

So argue away, you won't convince me that he's a befitting World Champion, even if personality's really got nothing to do with it.

I just don't think he has the true athletic class to be a worthy Rainbow Jersey wearer, especially when we consider how he made it to the finish at Etna this year. Wink, wink.

I mean, in regards to Sunday's event, we're talking about a course that arrived in a sprint at which Cancellara finished fourth for Pete's sake! Cancellara fourth in a sprint at the worlds!

That says it all about the course.

Any proof about Etna? I seem to remember that the only photos that came out were of his accusers.

Cancellara finishing 4th just goes to show that the course didn't suit Cav down to the ground and others had a chance.

Have to say I'm dissapointed with the comments on here. Sprinting is a part of road racing and as such sprinters should have a chance to win the rainbow jersey. I'd personally like to see cobbled courses, MTFs, rolling hills and flat courses rotated in the worlds but that's up to the UCI. At the end of the day Cav is the best sprinter in the world and deserves a chance to win the world championships, a chance the GB took brilliantly.

I'm also dissapointed that guys like Gilbert didn't even try, who cares if it comes to no avail, it's a one day race and they should have given it a go. You should be complaining about the other teams who didn't bother, they are just as much at fault for a boring race.

 

[Darryl Webster]

Brilliant execution of a very "public" plan.
Like most peeps here have to agree it was a poor course in World Champs terms but on the other hand theres no rule to say a " good " race has to be one that has the field finish in dribs and drabs. When you consider the GB team planned and executed a plan , almost to the letter, over a 2..3 year period since the course was announced, in full public glare, that alone is a remarkable achievement. There was only ever going to one winner in this race, everyone knew it and they failed to stop it.
The pure road sprinters deserve there opportunity every few years, this was Cavs and he delivered. I saw an interview with him Saturday on BBC and I should have bet my house on him..he was to scared to lose, I dont think Ive ever been so certain about who would win a one day race barring accident.!
Cav is well on his way to becoming the greatest road spinter of all time though Fredy Meartans 13 stage wins in one Tour Of Spain looks pretty safe!

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I just don't think he has the true athletic class to be a worthy Rainbow Jersey wearer, especially when we consider how he made it to the finish at Etna this year. Wink, wink.

Total BS. If that happened, I'm sure you'll see an amatuer youtube video of it. He's not some anonymous domestique, it's not like he wasn't being watched the whole time.

He will absolutely be a worthy WC, hell he might even get more wins in the stripes than most

I mean, in regards to Sunday's event, we're talking about a course that arrived in a sprint at which Cancellara finished fourth for Pete's sake! Cancellara fourth in a sprint at the worlds!

That says it all about the course.

What exactly does it say? He was well positioned on the front and knowing he can ride away from most of the peloton kicked early and held it until the end.

 

[rhubroma]

seriously say what you like about the course and its suitability to choose world champion but not got the athletic class. come on you are stretching things a bit there.

he is clearly the best sprinter in his time. he clocks more miles a year than pretty much any other rider, he deserved to win this race because he was better and faster than anyone else the world chose to put against him.

and what on earth does mount Etna have to do with winning worlds

Fair enough, I don't have a problem with this assessment of what I said and thought.

I will only add that I don't think a pure sprinter who gets pushed up climbs, especially with his attitude, is worthy of the label World Champion.

 

[rhubroma]

...

What exactly does it say? He was well positioned on the front and knowing he can ride away from most of the peloton kicked early and held it until the end.

It says exactly what I was trying to say, the course was a joke.

If Cancellara, who isn't fast, can take fourth in a bunch sprint at the end of the freakin Worlds, the race was a joke. He would never do that well in a sprinters stage at the Tour.

I just don't approve of such a race, however the outcome may have been pleasing to some.

PS: About the Etna incident, there were witnesses, youtube or no youtube.

 

[spalco]

I don't think it's out of the question at all that Cancellara could get a top10 result in many TdF sprints if he wanted to.

And the Etna thing is a stinking lie, no more.

 

[Ragerod]

It says exactly what I was trying to say, the course was a joke.

If Cancellara, who isn't fast, can take fourth in a bunch sprint at the end of the freakin Worlds, the race was a joke. He would never do that well in a sprinters stage at the Tour.

I just don't approve of such a race, however the outcome may have been pleasing to some.

PS: About the Etna incident, there were witnesses, youtube or no youtube.

Cancellara came fifth on the grand-daddy of them all, the Champs Elysees, this year and that was more of sprinters finish than this course.

 

[patterson_hood]

It says exactly what I was trying to say, the course was a joke.

If Cancellara, who isn't fast, can take fourth in a bunch sprint at the end of the freakin Worlds, the race was a joke. He would never do that well in a sprinters stage at the Tour.

I just don't approve of such a race, however the outcome may have been pleasing to some.

PS: About the Etna incident, there were witnesses, youtube or no youtube.

If that's your opinion surely it proves it wasn't a pure sprint. Although he did pretty well in Paris for a non-sprinter too.

Yes, witnesses with a vested interest who were then photographed doing exactly what Cav was accused of I seem to remember. Very believable...

 

[Dr. Maserati]

It says exactly what I was trying to say, the course was a joke.

If Cancellara, who isn't fast, can take fourth in a bunch sprint at the end of the freakin Worlds, the race was a joke. He would never do that well in a sprinters stage at the Tour.

I just don't approve of such a race, however the outcome may have been pleasing to some.

PS: About the Etna incident, there were witnesses, youtube or no youtube.

Thats a good point - Cancellara isn't fast

 

[will10]

Cancellara has always been pretty fast, even since U23 level

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

It says exactly what I was trying to say, the course was a joke.

If Cancellara, who isn't fast, can take fourth in a bunch sprint at the end of the freakin Worlds, the race was a joke. He would never do that well in a sprinters stage at the Tour.

PS: About the Etna incident, there were witnesses, youtube or no youtube.

Who witnessed this Etna Incident? From video that people did take of him, he was riding alongside Eisel and others while they were emptying bottles over his head, not a car in sight.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

isn't it more that team gb was just too good and too unified? other teams did in fact try stuff. voeckler was off the front. hoogerland, et al. they just got crushed into submission.

it is pretty obvious to me that the ones on here complaining about the course are largely continentals who view the brits as interlopers in "their" sport. it is a fact that the traditional powerhouses came away with very disappointing results in the medal counts. spain i believe was empty handed. italy got i think one medal. gb dominated, followed by the aussies. it is a new world where the anglophones are becoming stronger and stronger. and the continentals don't like it.

so they try to undermine what britain has accomplished, which was astounding. aussies too. we yanks may have our day again soon.

i, for one, feel little sympathy.

I don't think Team GB "were too good".
They had a plan A which they executed pretty well- but there was no plan B.
I doubt it was part of the plan to have Wiggins on the front so long and to have him pull up when he did without someone taking over.

 

[simo1733]

I can't imagine how much bile this forum would regurgitate if Sky manage to win the tour

 

[Boardslide]

It says exactly what I was trying to say, the course was a joke.

If Cancellara, who isn't fast, can take fourth in a bunch sprint at the end of the freakin Worlds, the race was a joke. He would never do that well in a sprinters stage at the Tour.

I just don't approve of such a race, however the outcome may have been pleasing to some.

PS: About the Etna incident, there were witnesses, youtube or no youtube.

Yes there were plenty of witnesses of the NON event and they were called commisaires who were following him and also the driver of the broom wagon who all came out publicly to denounce the accusations. The accusers were also publicly told to stop making false accusations

 

[Dancing On The Pedals]

I mean, in regards to Sunday's event, we're talking about a course that arrived in a sprint at which Cancellara finished fourth for Pete's sake! Cancellara fourth in a sprint at the worlds!

That says it all about the course.

What a load of rubbish. Cancellara managed to get 4th in a sprint at the expense of EBH, Freire, Bennati, Sagan, the Cossack and numerous others. Individuals who are considered better sprinters than Canc, so him beating them proves that the course was a sprinters paradise?
I'm British, I wanted Cav to win last Sunday and am very happy that he did, and team GB's performance was brutally effective and superbly executed. And yes the course was rubbish. Blame the UCI and the course organisers for producing it, not Cav for doing his job. Saying he's unworthy or whatever to be WC, just because he's the best sprinter of his generation is a ridiculous argument.

I can't imagine how much bile this forum would regurgitate if Sky manage to win the tour

It'll go into meltdown, the haters will have a field day

 

[Reverend_T_Preedy]

Well done to Cav for the win. I was delighted he won. The team were superb. For team GB to top the medals table at a road worlds is also pretty unbelievable to be honest.

Also, for a course suited to a sprinter the best sprinter in the world by a mile won. Therefore, we have a worthy winner in my opinion.

With regards to the course, I thought it was rubbish. I don't mind a sprinters WC every now and again. Yes a sprint was inevitable, however, it will be next year when Gilbert wins, just on a different circuit.

I have 2 problems with the course- 1) why on earth did they have the feed zone on the finish straight. It narrowed the road and took away one of the few places to attack. 2) Why do the organisers think an uphill finish creates excitement. If you're going to have a sprinters course then make it a flat finish but with some short sharp hills in the middle, perferably one after the other. This will encourage attacking, make the sprinter work harder and would have made it much harder for GB to control. To be honest a course like Vatenfall would be better suited to a sprinters race.

Anyway, GB have another world champion on the road which is brilliant.

 

[Anonymous]

he clocks more miles a year than pretty much any other rider,

to clarify, he is currently 57th in the world on distance, with 12,808 kilometres, but the only pure sprinter above him on that list is Tyler Farrar who is 49th on 12,962 so only 160km ahead of Cavendish.

For what its worth, neither of the Shlecks are even in the top 100, and neither are the two last world champions, Thor Hushovd (10,904km) and Cadel Evans (8,325km) - Ballan rode 12,880 in 2009, Bettini 13,447 in 2008.

So, whatever the argument, Cavendish will ride more kilometres next year than any world champion of the last five years

 

[Andy99]

Huge "you suck!" to the UCI for approving this bid, to the Danish fed for arranging such an awful parcours and I hope we never see such a farce of a race in the World Championships ever again.

It was like Scheldeprijs, only LONGER.

What an absolutely ridiculous post.

This is the last time I visit this seriously pathetic forum.

AWESOME weekend. Thanks Copenhagen - you did yourselves proud.

And massive congrats to the GB team for their brilliant ride.

 

[El Pistolero]

to clarify, he is currently 57th in the world on distance, with 12,808 kilometres, but the only pure sprinter above him on that list is Tyler Farrar who is 49th on 12,962 so only 160km ahead of Cavendish.

For what its worth, neither of the Shlecks are even in the top 100, and neither are the two last world champions, Thor Hushovd (10,904km) and Cadel Evans (8,325km) - Ballan rode 12,880 in 2009, Bettini 13,447 in 2008.

So, whatever the argument, Cavendish will ride more kilometres next year than any world champion of the last five years

Because some of these cyclists you mention actually do more than sitting in the peloton all day and that is a lot more demanding on your body thus they can't race as much as some other people. Andy Schleck is the epitome of epic fail though.

Plus you mention guys in their thirties versus a 26 year old...

Ps: cqranking only counts amount of km ridden in races they finished. If someone drops out right before the final stage of the Tour their 3000+ km won't be counted. And since when is Greipel not a pure sprinter?

 

[roundabout]

I guess Greipel is no longer a pure sprinter.

 

[hrotha]

What an absolutely ridiculous post.

This is the last time I visit this seriously pathetic forum.

AWESOME weekend. Thanks Copenhagen - you did yourselves proud.

And massive congrats to the GB team for their brilliant ride.

What's so ridiculous about it, and why does it offend you so much you feel you might not bother returning? Does it have anything to do with your location being Britain?

 

[El Pistolero]

What's so ridiculous about it, and why does it offend you so much you feel you might not bother returning? Does it have anything to do with your location being Britain?

GREAT Britain

 

[Escarabajo]

Deserves a thread. Especially for British cycling fans as this could be the moment cycling becomes a big sport in the country.

....

Few days have gone by and I have not even tried to watch the videos from the race. I just saw the report from CN. When I saw that Cav had won, that's all I needed to know about the race. First World Championship that I did not care how it was raced.

OTOH, good for brittish cycling and fans.

 

[spalco]

GREAT Britain

Even if you're being sarcastic, I don't think anybody actually says "Great" Britain, that's the island and not the country.

 

[3wheeler]

Sounds like EL Pistolero is a Bit Grumpy GB Owned the Race last Sunday.. Ah well ..lol..