Tour punishing Cavendish?

[theswordsman]

When I watched it live, Renshaw intentionally taking Farrar to the wall looked like the worst part. Robbie McEwen covered the situation well on twitter:

history shows that a headbutt will get dq'd from stg result (mcewen2005,Zabel 97) about 10 hours ago via web

history also shows that looking over shoulder at rival then taking them to barriers will also get u dq'd from stg results about 10 hours ago via web

(cavendish2009) about 10 hours ago via web

history will now show that combining the 2 aforementioned tactics will get u sent home...greater than the sum of it's parts about 10 hours ago via web

just an observation people about 10 hours ago via web

http://twitter.com/mcewenrobbie

 

[dsut4392]

If he had a lot left in his legs then why not tow Cav to the last meter as per usual? QUOTE]

Because Renshaw had slowed down to headbutt Dean away after Dean kept drifting into him and disrupting his leadout, and Cav wisely jumped rather than be boxed in while Petacchi made his move.

You can see Renshaw did have a lot left because he almost got back on Cav's wheel, but gave it up when Farrar gave him a nudge to say "please don't put me into the barriers".

It was dirty tactics all round, and now for the second year in a row there will be debates for the rest of the tour if not longer whether if it weren't for a questionable commissaires decision, somebody else would have won the green jersey.

Look at it this way - if anyone other than Cav takes the jersey this year, there will be whole legions of cycling fans (not just Cavendish fans, if such strange creatures exist) who will view the win as being worth less.

I like Thor much better than Cav, and even though he went on that gutsy escapade to seal the deal last year I still have my doubts whether things would have happened the same way if it weren't for that dubious relegation.

 

[Magnus]

Look at it this way - if anyone other than Cav takes the jersey this year, there will be whole legions of cycling fans (not just Cavendish fans, if such strange creatures exist) who will view the win as being worth less.

Count me out of that legion.

 

[sida-mot]

I can't help but wonder if this the tour organizers - finding a way to punish a team and rider (Cavendish) that they don't like?

(From Renshaw Out Post: Did JD follow his line? Read what Petacchi said, "I saw Renshaw going head to head with Julian Dean but I also saw Dean trying to box Renshaw in." He had a front row seat, you didn't... Some early posted, I think there right - this decision makes sprinting more dangerous, it means that if your getting pushed up against the barriers - to bad. I can't help but wonder if this the tour organizers - finding a way to punish a team and rider (Cavendish) that they don't like?)

To me it looked like dean was holding his line until Renshaw started making contact. Then he shifted his weight. Was it to box him in or was he just making sure he would stay on the bike? Either way imagine if it was not Dean he head butted, chances are pretty big that a rider without Dean's toughness and bike handling skill would have gone down right in front of the sprinters...

Then there is ofc the move he made towards Farrar. That was dangerous, that was pushing someone into the barriers. I think if he hadn't done that he would still be in the tour.

I agree with the decision to send Renshaw home and I don't get your point about making it ok to push riders in to the barrier, quite the opposite. One can always discuss if it was severe enough to exclude him but what other punishment would send the right signals? He wouldn't care about losing places or time on this stage, fines would be a -very- acceptable prize for HTC to pay for stage wins and you really can't punish Cav for something he didn't do.

 

[SpeedWay]

The tour is punishing itself more than Cav. I've never seen such interest from non-cycling types wishing they would have watched that stage when they found out there was head butting going on at 70K. When they were told the "butter" was DQ'd the air went out of the balloon real fast. Needless to say, the best "hard sell" campaign would never come close to reaching this market as yesterdays sprint did. One step forward - two back.

 

[goggalor]

Poor widdle Marky Mark, everyone is out to get him!

Damn those jealous Frenchies, they're obviously hating on his victory salutes!

 

[powerste]

Who do you trust? Farrar (poor little Tyler... who can't confess when he's beat) or Renshaw?

I wouldn't trust either of them to provide a truly objective account. They're both human and both too heavily invested in the decision, not to be subjective in their interpretation.

 

[Hawkwood]

Poor widdle Marky Mark, everyone is out to get him!

Damn those jealous Frenchies, they're obviously hating on his victory salutes!

Would that be Renshaw or Cavendish?

 

[goggalor]

Would that be Renshaw or Cavendish?

Who cares, the French probably hate them both for not being French.