What should HTC do next?

[riobonito92]

What does HTC Columbia do now? Cav is out of form and may have lost the bolas to mix it in a sprint. Tony Martin is highest place in GC at 2:35, (at 2:12 in the young rider classification. Rogers is at 3:00 in the GC.

Perhaps they should have Renshaw go for the green jersey. Cav could lead him out. Why not if he is the in-form fast man?

 

[Balleballe]

Wonder what Greipel is thinking right now!

 

[Merckx]

Wonder what Greipel is thinking right now!

Cav on bad form is still better than Greipel on good form.

 

[abbaskip]

What does HTC Columbia do now? Cav is out of form and may have lost the bolas to mix it in a sprint. Tony Martin is highest place in GC at 2:35, (at 2:12 in the young rider classification. Rogers is at 3:00 in the GC.

Perhaps they should have Renshaw go for the green jersey. Cav could lead him out. Why not if he is the in-form fast man?

I thought that after todays stage. But they'll stick with Cav (even though from all reports, he and Renshaw are great mates).

Renshaw said himself he hasn't been training to sprint, he has been training to lead out, which requires less of a kick, and more of a sustained effort.

 

[BroDeal]

Wonder what Greipel is thinking right now!

 

[180mmCrank]

I have a hunch that Cav was not 100% today. His pre-race interview was very downbeat. He's either sick or the last few days have knocked the stuffing out of him more than others. It will be interesting to see if he can recover and have an impact in the next couple of days...

 

[riobonito92]

I thought that after todays stage. But they'll stick with Cav (even though from all reports, he and Renshaw are great mates).

Renshaw said himself he hasn't been training to sprint, he has been training to lead out, which requires less of a kick, and more of a sustained effort.

Renshaw might not win stages but he could probably pick up a lot of points along the way and survive over the mountains. He already has 30 pts so he is not so far behind.

Unless HTC believe that Cav will get a few stage wins (and maybe he will, maybe he won't) I think Renshaw for green may be the better strategy.

 

[Von Mises]

They are going to stick with Cavendish. You dont drop your team leader because he had a bad day. And even he is out of form, they dont drop him just like that.

 

[Cobblestones]

Maybe they give Greipel cosmetic surgery to make him look like Cav and then quietly substitute him.

 

[fatandfast]

Other teams need to knock off the BS..when Phil Ligget announces that whole thing about the HTC train "gee..oh my god here comes the Manx Missle!!" the other teams should get out of the way and let Cav win. Don't let all that dental work go to waste. Plus he speaks English so no effort needs to be put into the post race interview..come on we are in a recession were is the money supposed to come from for some pricey quote from Pettachi? Also the routes should be modified so that there are no corners in the last 10k..Cav is having a time of making turns. Fans should be encouraged to spray paint sprint lanes near the finish so Cav has a private lane so that he can do one of his famous winning salutes..I live for those. The guy is way better than Bontempi,Ludwig,Vanderaeden, Zabel, Boonen..he is just so good and so cute like a little bear. Cav is the best of all time!!

 

[riobonito92]

Another angle - it would benefit Cavendish to have to work for Renshaw.

A few years ago I was on a team with a good young sprinter who, when he won, would say stuff like "when one of us wins the whole team wins" and would say his thank yous etc. But it was a one-way thing. If we asked him to lead someone else out he would always get lost in the bunch and come up with loads of excuses why he couldn't do it; if a team mate got into a break he would get agitated and try to jump across the gap or start screaming at us to work because (according to him) we couldn't trust the guy up front. Eventually, we reined him in and he did mature and become much more of a team player (although there were tears and tantrums and threatening to leave along the way).

So what I am saying is that maybe this is a good opportunity to teach Cav some humility and let him mature.

(Disclaimer - I am going on his media image - he may be the best team player in the world for all I know).

 

[turtlesoup]

Another angle - it would benefit Cavendish to have to work for Renshaw.

A few years ago I was on a team with a good young sprinter who, when he won, would say stuff like "when one of us wins the whole team wins" and would say his thank yous etc. But it was a one-way thing. If we asked him to lead someone else out he would always get lost in the bunch and come up with loads of excuses why he couldn't do it; if a team mate got into a break he would get agitated and try to jump across the gap or start screaming at us to work because (according to him) we couldn't trust the guy up front. Eventually, we reined him in and he did mature and become much more of a team player (although there were tears and tantrums and threatening to leave along the way).

So what I am saying is that maybe this is a good opportunity to teach Cav some humility and let him mature.

(Disclaimer - I am going on his media image - he may be the best team player in the world for all I know).

your right at the age of 25 he could use some humility. He has a lot of good years ahead of him and alot he needs to still prove before he can let his ego explode. Im sure the media bashing has weighed heavy on him and the peleton is probably not very friendly not to mention his early crash. When hushovd bumped him today he probably got scared. He seems to have lost some of his nerve and confidence, i hope he gets a stage win but i think he'll come back stronger next year.

 

[therhodeo]

your right at the age of 25 he could use some humility. He has a lot of good years ahead of him and alot he needs to still prove before he can let his ego explode. Im sure the media bashing has weighed heavy on him and the peleton is probably not very friendly not to mention his early crash. When hushovd bumped him today he probably got scared. He seems to have lost some of his nerve and confidence, i hope he gets a stage win but i think he'll come back stronger next year.

Not defending Cavendish but if Thor bumped me I'd be scared too.

 

[riobonito92]

Not defending Cavendish but if Thor bumped me I'd be scared too.

If the other sprinters start to think Cavendish has lost his nerve, he is in for a lot of bumping over the next few days.

 

[Cobblestones]

If the other sprinters start to think Cavendish has lost his nerve, he is in for a lot of bumping over the next few days.

My feeling is that if he hasn't anything to show for by Friday, he might drop out.

 

[slippyB]

train problems

i think one problem HTC/Cav had today was that the train got derailed just inside the red kite. I think it was a Lampre rider that shot up the right side of the road at the same time as one of the HTC guys pulled off from his push to leave Renshaw and the reaction was slow and HTC never regained control of the race. And as has been said over and over, no Hincapie, and then the injury/withdraw of another key rider in train certainly has to impact horsepower and ability to control front of the pack and put Cav on a platter for the win.

Can Cav win w/ a less effective lead-out train?

 

[riobonito92]

i think one problem HTC/Cav had today was that the train got derailed just inside the red kite. I think it was a Lampre rider that shot up the right side of the road at the same time as one of the HTC guys pulled off from his push to leave Renshaw and the reaction was slow and HTC never regained control of the race. And as has been said over and over, no Hincapie, and then the injury/withdraw of another key rider in train certainly has to impact horsepower and ability to control front of the pack and put Cav on a platter for the win.

Can Cav win w/ a less effective lead-out train?

But Cav was not boxed in - he was well positioned with 150 to go and well beaten a couple of seconds later. If I was the HTC DS watching that I would conclude that he simply does not have the form, so I would start weighing up the alternatives. The question remains, with Cav failing, and Rogers and Martin down on GC, how does HTC salvage this tour?

 

[Big GMaC]

But Cav was not boxed in - he was well positioned with 150 to go and well beaten a couple of seconds later. If I was the HTC DS watching that I would conclude that he simply does not have the form, so I would start weighing up the alternatives. The question remains, with Cav failing, and Rogers and Martin down on GC, how does HTC salvage this tour?

Ask ASO if they can swap a Hobbit for a Gorilla?

 

[Night Rider]

The question remains, with Cav failing, and Rogers and Martin down on GC, how does HTC salvage this tour?

They are a one trick pony, they have to stick with Cav. He will win a stage or two I'm sure. But hell I'm really enjoying the other sprinters whip his a$$ for now.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, it does seem Mr Douchey McDentalwork's mouth is much more full of pi$$ and vinegar than are his legs. Maybe he just needs to learn to shut his pie hole and race instead of making sure his talk is on form.

That being said, I like the guy for what he brings, but do find it funny that he is finding that sometimes your words makes you look like an idiot, but hey, we all find that out sooner or later.

 

[autologous]

Cav on bad form is still better than Greipel on good form

B.S
If Greipel was on another team, he would have flown by Cav just like McEwen & the others did today. Doubt Greipel would have pulled the pussy move Cav pulled today - he realised he wasn't as fast as the others and gave up and stopped pedaling, the guy behind almost ran into him. Gave up points. Lame.

 

[Escarabajo]

... The question remains, with Cav failing, and Rogers and Martin down on GC, how does HTC salvage this tour?

Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves? Isn't it too early to say Rogers and Martin are out of it? Of course they were never podium material but I think they are where they are supposed to be. There is too much racing ahead of us.

(Disclaimer: I really don't care about the HTC team or any of its riders but I really think is too early to draw conclusions).

 

[mowie133]

Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves? Isn't it too early to say Rogers and Martin are out of it? Of course they were never podium material but I think they are where they are supposed to be. There is too much racing ahead of us.

(Disclaimer: I really don't care about the HTC team or any of its riders but I really think is too early to draw conclusions).

spot on!!! roger is feeling great atm...an with the tour not even being over a cat 1 or 2 yet way way way way to early to write them off!!! an i don't think being min 20 behind AC a mile behind

 

[Escarabajo]

spot on!!! roger is feeling great atm...an with the tour not even being over a cat 1 or 2 yet way way way way to early to write them off!!! an i don't think being min 20 behind AC a mile behind

Disclaimer: I really don't care about the HTC team or any of its riders

 

[Escarabajo]

spot on!!! roger is feeling great atm...an with the tour not even being over a cat 1 or 2 yet way way way way to early to write them off!!! an i don't think being min 20 behind AC a mile behind

I said they were never podium material anyway. What else are they suppose to do in the first week. AC and Schleck had a great ride in the Cobbles. It looks like everybody else but Evans lost against them. Anything can still happen.