Who's the sprint King..?

[El Pistolero]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTHLWKzWUb0

Yeah, that's once. Greipel also beat him in a stage in 2011. Plus, I'm sure Cav was still in the Greipel group in a stage Greipel won in 2012...

In 2011 Cav had a far superior lead-out so he won the most stages, in 2012 Greipel had a superior lead-out so he won 3 stages(should've been 4 without the dislocated shoulder). We'll see in 2013.

Of course I'm not taking into account results before 2011 because all the best sprinters were part of HTC before that year.

Don't understand me wrong though, Cav will still beat Greipel more than vice versa, but the playing field will be more equal now.

 

[trevim]

Cav will still beat Greipel more than vice versa, but the playing field will be more equal now.

Completely agree.

 

[sublimit]

Which pope?

Cavendish by the way.

John Paul III was fast, probably motorized though.

Cavendish seemed more at home in the chaotic sprints than in the armchair ride by Terpstra yesterday so Cav for sure. Griepel without Hendo and his Lotto chums is usually lost.

 

[forkboy84]

Don't understand me wrong though, Cav will still beat Greipel more than vice versa, but the playing field will be more equal now.

A fair summary. I look forward to each chance we get to see them go head to head

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Yeah, that's once. Greipel also beat him in a stage in 2011. Plus, I'm sure Cav was still in the Greipel group in a stage Greipel won in 2012...

In 2011 Cav had a far superior lead-out so he won the most stages, in 2012 Greipel had a superior lead-out so he won 3 stages(should've been 4 without the dislocated shoulder). We'll see in 2013.

Of course I'm not taking into account results before 2011 because all the best sprinters were part of HTC before that year.

Don't understand me wrong though, Cav will still beat Greipel more than vice versa, but the playing field will be more equal now.

The stage you're referring to Cav was sprinting from 35m behind so the comparison really isn't that straight.

Andre is benefiting from a train massively giving him a consistent results as he does have a good kick, but can't position himself. But i've yet to see anything to suggest Andre beating Cav should be treated as anything other than an occasional exception unless there is a very large differential in starting position. 2011 is the only straight up example I can recall.

 

[LaFlorecita]

i dont really understand the question

sprint king as in best sprinter in the world so entire palmares etc

or best sprinter in le tour or this season or something like that

 

[deValtos]

Where is Barry Markus ???

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Where is Barry Markus ???

a bit wet behind the ears still. Let him clock up some wins this season, then he may fit in the 'best new sprinter' poll.

 

[rhubroma]

Flat sprints = Cav
Uphill sprints = Sagan
Flat sprints just after a hill = Greipel

Touché.

Cav may indeed be the best pure, flat, drag race sprinter of all time. In my opinion he lacks the "sexyness" of a Cipollini, but as far as pure, top end speed is concerned he's tops.

 

[Bexon30]

i dont really understand the question

sprint king as in best sprinter in the world so entire palmares etc

or best sprinter in le tour or this season or something like that

Okay. My fault, I meant who will be best sprinter come this July. So tour yes but also the races between then and now...

Hope that cleats it up.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Okay. My fault, I meant who will be best sprinter come this July. So tour yes but also the races between then and now...

Hope that cleats it up.

ok, I voted Greipel I like him but I also like cav. But Greipel is awesome

 

[Parker]

I'm a big Cavendish fan, but I have to admit, Greipel did look stronger in last year's Tour overall to me, but he had a lot of factors in his favour.

On the stages that Greipel and Cavendish both contested the sprint, Cavendish won 3-1.

It's a good rivalry though (and actually more friendly than people think)

 

[cycladianpirate]

Who would offer ante post odds better than evens on Cavendish winning on the Champs Elysees this year?

Answer your question?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Who would offer ante post odds better than evens on Cavendish winning on the Champs Elysees this year?

Answer your question?

Anyone that does would be having a huge chunk of my hard earned money on. Certainly all British bookie's would have Cav at the shortest possible price.

 

[greenedge]

I think Cav has the potential to lose at least 2 sprints that he will be in and probably some to crashes.
Guardini, Kittel, Greipel and maybe even Farrar/ Renshaw/ Demare could get a stage on a flat sprint.

Sagan should be up there on those stages as well but i think with Greipel/ Cav having lead out trains he will be lucky to win on the flat. He, Degnkolb and Goss (hopefully) will then fight it out for some of the harder stages.

Goss, Degenkolb, Sagan, Greipel and Cav my top 5 in the green jersey with Cav the winner but the others all have a shot.

 

[puffin]

Goss, Degenkolb, Sagan, Greipel and Cav my top 5 in the green jersey with Cav the winner but the others all have a shot.

Sagan *will* win the green jersey with top 5 placings on flat sprints, points on intermediate sprints (even on mountain stages) and victories on uphill finishes.

I take sprint king to mean most bunch sprint wins and that will not be sagan.

Do you think cavendish will use the opqs train (looks inferior to lotto belisol at this point) or make his own way through the bunch, preferably on greipel's wheel?

 

[veganrob]

Cav still the king, but there is going to be some awesome sprinting contests this year. Best in years.

 

[Wallace and Gromit]

Cav will only need his opqs mates to the 500m to go point. From there, he's such a canny racer that he doesn't need a train.

His main problem last year was in the 3k to 500m to go range when he had no protection from the bumping and barging that always happens. In the last two flat stages in the Tour, when Wiggo and Eddy BH led him out, he didn't have any real problems, though he did find himself out front a tad too early in the final stage when Eddy BH ran out of gas.

Do opts have anyone in the Renshaw mode to do a proper lead out if required. The guys on duty in Qatar all looked big and strong, good for hours toiling into the wind etc. but they didn't seem quite fast enough to escort Cav to the optimum point to launch his sprint. What he needs is a proven warrior, preferably a former world champ, with a tidy though no longer world class final sprint...

 

[MatParker117]

Cav will only need his opqs mates to the 500m to go point. From there, he's such a canny racer that he doesn't need a train.

His main problem last year was in the 3k to 500m to go range when he had no protection from the bumping and barging that always happens. In the last two flat stages in the Tour, when Wiggo and Eddy BH led him out, he didn't have any real problems, though he did find himself out front a tad too early in the final stage when Eddy BH ran out of gas.

Do opts have anyone in the Renshaw mode to do a proper lead out if required. The guys on duty in Qatar all looked big and strong, good for hours toiling into the wind etc. but they didn't seem quite fast enough to escort Cav to the optimum point to launch his sprint. What he needs is a proven warrior, preferably a former world champ, with a tidy though no longer world class final sprint...

Tom Boonen

 

[Wallace and Gromit]

Tom Boonen

The very man I had in mind. Having Boonen in the lead out man role would make opqs nigh on invincible one would think. Will Boonen be up for that, though? I'm a great believer in riders doing what's best for the team, but Boonen has surely earnt the right not to serve his paymasters in such a way if he doesn't fancy it.

 

[spalco]

Absolutely true, but on the other hand - what better things has he got do in july?

 

[Pentacycle]

Absolutely true, but on the other hand - what better things has he got do in july?

Or the rest of the year? Maybe Paris-Tours but that's about it.

He mentioned somewhere he'll do the Tour and Vuelta if the Worlds are too hard, he'd better keep his promises this year then.

 

[MatParker117]

The very man I had in mind. Having Boonen in the lead out man role would make opqs nigh on invincible one would think. Will Boonen be up for that, though? I'm a great believer in riders doing what's best for the team, but Boonen has surely earnt the right not to serve his paymasters in such a way if he doesn't fancy it.

A quality lead out man makes the world of difference and Boonen would make Cav untouchable. Had Greg Henderson still been at Sky last year I doubt Cav would be at OPQS now.

 

[Velo_vicar]

the key comparison between Cav and AG from the 2012 tour was in Paris. After Cav won stage 18 the Lotto guys were all saying they were saving themselves for Paris. When it came to it their train was blown away by Wiggins and AG was completely lost. Cav with a dedicated train for the first time that tour won. AG TdUwins looked good but i suspect he always goes all out while Cav in smaller races seems to do enough to win.

 

[bicifan]

I can't believe Cavendish has 88%. He's not that good.