The New World Champion! Appreciation

[El Pistolero]

Yeah he came 175th, 9 mins out. Not a piece of cake for him

For all you people moaning about the course, it was the same for everyone. Cav won. Next year the course will be different.

Cavendish, World Champion- that has such a nice ring to it.

He got stuck behind a crash that also saw the end of Thor Hushovd.

 

[hfer07]

In a race tailor made for sprinters, Cavendish delivered the win that matters the most-and among the best sprinters--so based on that rational, he deserves full credit for it-although the lack of excitement during the race diminishes the merit a bit (which I think Cav cares less)

 

[The Sheep]

Just a fyi for the british

Cavendish = a cyclist

The worlds course = The road he was riding on today

Apparently you can't see the distinction between the 2.

 

[LancsRider]

The world championships are the one point in the year when a national team gets together to race wearing the same jersey.

Don't blame Cav or the GB team if the race was crap, blame the fact that other nationalities failed to pull together and come to the race with a game plan. I personally feel that Australia and Germany were more or less settled on their plan for the day and did their best to execute it, but they didn't put in half the effort as the GB boys and so the 1, 2 ,3 was a fair reflection of this. The French and Belgians made a half hearted effort of getting a couple of riders up the road, but is was far to late in the race and when they caught up with the usual group of lesser riders out for a bit of media coverage they simply didn't push on. The Italians tried a few pathetic attempts at a half hearted break at the same point each lap with expected results. Put simply team GB did the majority of the work and if you can't get away from a tired Wiggins after you have been sitting in for four and a half hours then don't complain.

If Cancellara could get 4th what does this say about the sprinters from other nations when everyone said it was a sprinters course. The fact is GB pulled together as a team brilliantly led on the road by Millar, the other nations simply lacked belief, co-ordination, or team spirit to make a race of it! Yes if the course was more difficult more riders might have been interested but that is no excuse in a professional sport when you have been selected for your nation.

 

[Hawkwood]

Oh great we've got the `one-trick pony' description again, as `one-trick ponies' go he's possibly the best ever. Wish I was a one-trick pony as good as him.

 

[El Pistolero]

In a race tailor made for sprinters, Cavendish delivered the win that matters the most-and among the best sprinters--so based on that rational, he deserves full credit for it-although the lack of excitement during the race diminishes the merit a bit (which I think Cav cares less)

But we already knew he was the best sprinter. What does this title prove?

A flat WC is as stupid as a WC FINISHING on the Cauberg.

 

[El Pistolero]

Oh great we've got the `one-trick pony' description again, as `one-trick ponies' go he's possibly the best ever. Wish I was a one-trick pony as good as him.

He is a one trick pony. As are many cyclists these days. Andy Schleck is a one trick pony. Sprinters only have it a lot easier than climbers.

 

[spalco]

He is a one trick pony. As are many cyclists these days. Andy Schleck is a one trick pony. Sprinters only have it a lot easier than climbers.

It's one hell of a trick though.

 

[Ferminal]

The Italians tried a few pathetic attempts at a half hearted break at the same point each lap with expected results. Put simply team GB did the majority of the work and if you can't get away from a tired Wiggins after you have been sitting in for four and a half hours then don't complain.

I'd hardly call top20 classics riders like Visconti and Gerrans turning themselves inside out on the front for a few km before inevitably being reeled back in as "pathetic". The major teams had to shut up shop in the final few laps once the sprint became inevitable.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Whinge, Whinge, Whinge - "Cav can't do this, Cav can’t do that. Everybody finished fresh as a daisy. Everybody let Cav win. It was so boring."

The team did a massive job today. Everybody knew the GB game plan well ahead of the race. No one came up with any sort of plan to derail it. GB rode a textbook race and Cav won.
If you must sound off, have a go at your own national team for not having a plan to stop Cav winning it.

GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV, GB, CAV.

Yeah Baby!!!!

While you are certainly entitled to gloat or celebrate - I don't believe it was a textbook ride from team GB. It looked more Team Sky than HTC (ie going too early).

They were forced to have BW on the front for a long time and with 5k to go looked as though they were going to get swamped by either Italy or OZ who had more numbers. Stannard did an amazing ride and didn't panic.

 

[El Pistolero]

It's one hell of a trick though.

Something nobody denied. People seem to think one trick pony is an insult. It's not. I only don't want a one trick pony as a world champion

For the same reasons I'm not a fan of Andy Schleck- he's a one trick pony as well.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Don't blame Cav or the GB team if the race was crap

We don't. We blame a course that made it so difficult to create any finish other than a bunch gallop that teams didn't bother, and half of them didn't even select the kind of people you'd expect to animate the race.

A lot of people thought the course was tougher than it was. Certainly the organisers scored an own goal by putting the feed zone on one of the only uphill sections of the race, almost annulling it as a place to attack, and quite a few people perhaps felt that the sprint wouldn't be ideally suited to Cavendish and thus give them a chance. But he was just too strong for them today, and that's great for him.

But the race was just another flat stage. It didn't have any sense of occasion, any sense of specialness, and no, it didn't feel like an out of the ordinary achievement when Cavendish won. It just felt routine. And that's not Cavendish's fault - it's the fault of the people who laid out a course that simply wasn't challenging or technical enough for pro racing. It might have made a nice circuit finish to a flat tour, but that's all.

You can argue that it's the riders that make the race, and there is a degree of truth in that. After all, the riders turned this:

into a wheelsucking group ride, and yet turned this:

into a GC-relevant one (though that at least had many more points of potential attack than today in København).

But the saying goes that "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". That's fine, but the lemons that we were given with the København course had gone mouldy, slightly brown, had fallen down some stairs and been smeared with excrement. At that point, lemonade isn't really a viable option.

 

[LancsRider]

I'd hardly call top20 classics riders like Visconti and Gerrans turning themselves inside out on the front for a few km before inevitably being reeled back in as "pathetic". The major teams had to shut up shop in the final few laps once the sprint became inevitable.

Fair point but this was hardly a team strategy otherwise they would have attacked again with someone else putting pressure straight back onto GB, it was if Visconti was trying to do it all on his own for the Italians. My feeling was that there was not enough pressure put on simultaneously and consistently by top class riders who were in the main field which could have put GB in trouble. Visconti attacking should have been a signal for many others to give it a go, instead he was left looking backwards wondering why no one would come with him of note.

 

[roundabout]

Sorry to say this, but imo this is just bull****. We have to have World Championships like this sometimes. Often, no. But they will come, thats just the way it is. Cav is the best sprinter in the world by far, and its only fair he gets the chance to win a World Championship. He wont get the chance the next years.

Vainsteins was mostly sprinter, Freire, Hauptman and Zabel could sprint but admittedly they were better than Cavendish in getting over terrain obstacles. I won't mention Zolder. Hamilton had sprinters finishing close after the first group.
In Verona there were sprinters who could climb but sprinters nevertheless. Boonen won in Madrid. Salzburg would have been a full on sprint.

Sprinters had enough chances to win the worlds in the last 10 years.

 

[Hawkwood]

While you are certainly entitled to gloat or celebrate - I don't believe it was a textbook ride from team GB. It looked more Team Sky than HTC (ie going too early).

They were forced to have BW on the front for a long time and with 5k to go looked as though they were going to get swamped by either Italy or OZ who had more numbers. Stannard did an amazing ride and didn't panic.

Sort of agree with you. I think they did a great job until about 5 ks to go. Cav lost his lead-out man in the run-in when he was boxed in against the railings. I think Renshaw would have got him through the jam in a far better position. Did I see BW pulling so hard he was dropping the bunch? If so you sort of wonder whether he could have won it going for a long one from a few ks out.

 

[SaxonUK]

This is my first post on the forums and I have to say I'm a little dissapointed with some people here, the first couple pages reek of... I don't even know what, nationalistic bigotry? The main problem with this forum seems to be the inability of some people to identify and admire riders from beyond their own shores and to give credit where credit is due.

I for one, as a Briton, thoroughly enjoyed the last three kilometres of the race and I hold an entirely different view of today's WC race as I feel that if any other team other than GB had won today in the last three kilometres that that would have been a cheap way to win. GB led the group for much of the race, and if it had come to closing kilometres of the stage and were pipped, well, you can call Cavendish a 'wheel-hugger' all you want but he, and the GB team, did an exceptional job today on a course that they understood and controlled, to say that this is a cheap win or that Cavendish didn't deserve it simply absurd.

 

[SlowBloke]

One Trick Pony BS

So tell me, given that she can row to a world class level as well, is Rebecca Romero the only cyclist who isn't a one trick pony?

 

[El Pistolero]

Sorry to say this, but imo this is just bull****. We have to have World Championships like this sometimes. Often, no. But they will come, thats just the way it is. Cav is the best sprinter in the world by far, and its only fair he gets the chance to win a World Championship. He wont get the chance the next years.

1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011 were all won by sprinters. Bettini won in 2006, but it was normally going to become a bunch sprint. Zabel got second anyway.

The difference with all the sprinters that won those years is that they weren't one trick ponies like Cavendish.

 

[Hawkwood]

So tell me, given that she can row to a world class level as well, is Rebecca Romero the only cyclist who isn't a one trick pony?

We clearly need an annual world championship for `one-trick ponies' I'm surprised the UCI hasn't cottoned on to this.

 

[El Pistolero]

So tell me, given that she can row to a world class level as well, is Rebecca Romero the only cyclist who isn't a one trick pony?

Contador, Valverde, Cadel Evans are some examples of cyclists who aren't one trick ponies. Even Bradley Wiggins can't be called a one trick pony.

 

[SlowBloke]

Great team effort

Sort of agree with you. I think they did a great job until about 5 ks to go. Cav lost his lead-out man in the run-in when he was boxed in against the railings. I think Renshaw would have got him through the jam in a far better position. Did I see BW pulling so hard he was dropping the bunch? If so you sort of wonder whether he could have won it going for a long one from a few ks out.

He repeatedly proves he doesn't need a lead out man, so why do people keep saying he can't do it without a lead out man?

The team pulled back the break, stopped others going off, and made sure thier guy was in with a shout when the finishing line came into sight.

 

[Altitude]

Cavendish's kit and helmet is the gayest things I've ever seen.

 

[El Pistolero]

We clearly need an annual world championship for `one-trick ponies' I'm surprised the UCI hasn't cottoned on to this.

Please tell me what other weapon does Cavendish have of winning a race or making it in the top 10 of one?

A weapon that's of him and him alone by the way. So don't answer something like his team

 

[roundabout]

To be honest, 1999 was a bit of an anomaly. I think Freire was about the only sprinter in the front group and he won it solo.

Konyshev and Zberg could sprint but they were almost infinitely better than Cavendish over the climbs.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011 were all won by sprinters. Bettini won in 2006, but it was normally going to become a bunch sprint. Zabel got second anyway.

The difference with all the sprinters that won those years is that they weren't one trick ponies like Cavendish.

So they weren't just sprinters?
You just killed your own argument.