King Of The Wolds said:Cav still has some way to go to match the 2 great Italians, in terms of palmares, and therefore, all time status. In terms of sheer speed, acceleration and dominance though, his 2 Champs Elysees wins and his Bordeaux win last year were a new high in sprinting.
Yeah, but you have to remember that the two Italians were somewhat indulged by the Giro, which traditionally sets a course to suit the best Italians riders. For example, when Petacchi was in his pomp in 2004, there were 12 stages that ended in a bunch sprint with only Robbie McEwen and Fred Rodriguez as competition (Ale-Jet won 9). Of Cipo's 57 wins, 42 were in the Giro. Those two had a lot fish in a lot of barrels ready for shooting.
I think they're both great sprinters, but pure stats don't really tell the whole story. The Tour is were all the sprinters come to play.