Cavendish - Spoilt Brat ?

kellys_heroes

is it me or has anyone else noticed how annoying Mark Cavendish is getting..ok he has talent.but watching him the way he behaved in the sprint yesterday to that other rider who`s name escapes me lacks class and maturity....his ego is the size of his backside...the way he treated Mario cipollini in the Tour of California when he half-peddaled in the time trial to mock him......yeah mark when you have won the amount of races he has then you can blow hot air.....i for one have lost respect for him now...he has got to big for his boots.

redddraggon

kellys heroes wrote:

is it me or has anyone else noticed how annoying Mark Cavendish is getting..ok he has talent.but watching him the way he behaved in the sprint yesterday to that other rider who`s name escapes me lacks class and maturity....his ego is the size of his backside...the way he treated Mario cipollini in the Tour of California when he half-peddaled in the time trial to mock him......yeah mark when you have won the amount of races he has then you can blow hot air.....i for one have lost respect for him now...he has got to big for his boots.

I like his attitude, he wants to win, he's not just there to make up the numbers. He might be arrogant but a lot of professional sportsmen are like that.

Noodley

I doubt if anyone 'round here will have noticed or have an opinion

Jez mon

Cav has a big mouth...but the guy is a very good sprinter. In this year's Giro there aren't many sprint stages, and he has been made the team leader, this is quite a bit of pressure for a guy in his second season.

Stage 9's sprint was very messy with Team High Road doing a lot of work on the front, but getting quite abit wrong. The CSF rider appeared to nudge Cav off his wheel and this was enough to set Cav off, not suprising given that HR had done all that work but Cav was in a bad position.

Cav was a bit cheeky in the T of C, but apologized once he realized how bad it looked.

Overall, Cav is the most promising British Pro in years, yet everyone feels the need to bash him...typical.

BrianS

Arrogance sometimes means the person is shy.

I support Cav and think he is the best road talent to come out the UK in a long time.

I wish him luck in everything he does.

st68

mark cavendish is cocky but hes young an most lads his age are the same but are not as talented

LangerDan

Arrogance / confidence / self belief - call it what you will - is a necessary part of the mental make-up of a top level athlete. Rudeness, however, is not.


The behaviour of riders like Cipo and McEwen is used as an example that Cav's behaviour is par for the course. However you could equally refer to the likes of Zabel, Pettachi, Freire or Bennati to show that it is possible to be a top class sprinter without ticking off everyone else.

ricadus

kellys heroes wrote:

i....his ego is the size of his backside...the way he treated Mario cipollini in the Tour of California when he half-peddaled in the time trial to mock him......yeah mark when you have won the amount of races he has then you can blow hot air.....i for one have lost respect for him now...he has got to big for his boots.

Would you prefer he was more robot-like? The peloton needs its characters, they can't all be ... "vegetables" (© RR) – that would be boring.

thamacdaddy

I gotta be honest I don't have a bad word for any of the brits in the pelaton at all.

I think Cav's age comes into it. Let the guy make his mistakes he will learn from it and come out better for it. You can also not believe everything you read. I saw people slating him for the cw article on here this morning and thought well how much of that is quoted word for word and how much is skewed by a reporter looking for a story.

Being 21 you know that the guy is going to be lead by a clever reporter but he is going to learn the hard way how to deal with it. He is a personality at the end of the day and there is nothing wrong with that.

Having said all this Ricco is pretty much the same right now and I think the guy is a to55pot especially with that earing so maybe I just give Cav a free pass as he is a brit and I haven't seen a better more exiciting bit of sport this year than him and wiggins laying it down in the madison in manc.....

I think how he was in that sprint the other day is as much frustration and letting off steam than anything else. I agree he could have dealt with it better but I don't hate him for it either. Wiggins is probably my fav but even last year after confidis got pulled from the tour he had a few things to say that others felt he shouldn't. Suppose you can't please everyone.

celbianchi

Give the lad a break.
He's young, instinctive and has the top end speed to be our most successful road pro in terms of volume of wins.

He will mature over time and I have no doubt will be a 'model pro' with perfect behaviour.

But for now cut him some slack eh?

andrewgturnbull

LangerDan wrote:

Arrogance / confidence / self belief - call it what you will - is a necessary part of the mental make-up of a top level athlete. Rudeness, however, is not.


The behaviour of riders like Cipo and McEwen is used as an example that Cav's behaviour is par for the course. However you could equally refer to the likes of Zabel, Pettachi, Freire or Bennati to show that it is possible to be a top class sprinter without ticking off everyone else.

Hi there.

Things aren't always as they seem. Zabel despite coming across as a wee quiet guy is apparently one of the least popular riders in the peleton...

At least with Cav you know what you get, and you get what you see!

Cheers, Andy

forearms Van Petegem

LangerDan wrote:

Arrogance / confidence / self belief - call it what you will - is a necessary part of the mental make-up of a top level athlete. Rudeness, however, is not.


The behaviour of riders like Cipo and McEwen is used as an example that Cav's behaviour is par for the course. However you could equally refer to the likes of Zabel, Pettachi, Freire or Bennati to show that it is possible to be a top class sprinter without ticking off everyone else.

dont worry, Zabel can be bad, and so can Petacchi. They have had multiple incidents, each of them, no need to be an apologist if you know what you are talking about.

Freire is about the only cleanskin.

Noodley

Noodley wrote:

I doubt if anyone 'round here will have noticed or have an opinion

See, I told you so...

sicrow

Jez mon wrote:

Cav was a bit cheeky in the T of C, but apologized once he realized how bad it looked.

Overall, Cav is the most promising British Pro in years, yet everyone feels the need to bash him...typical.

Cav is still young and learning and has quickly progressed up the sport, remember when you were that age you were not the full rounded person.

I doubt that he is coached either like the footballers these days for the media but at least he's not gone down for 6 months !!!!

He will get more savvy with what to say in time, for the moment we should be behind him all the way and stop having an excuse to kick him in the b*****ks

iainf72

thamacdaddy wrote:

I think how he was in that sprint the other day is as much frustration and letting off steam than anything else. I agree he could have dealt with it better but I don't hate him for it either. Wiggins is probably my fav but even last year after confidis got pulled from the tour he had a few things to say that others felt he shouldn't. Suppose you can't please everyone.

You need to ask yourself the question "if they were American and said those things, how would I feel"

As I said in the other thread it's fine to get angry when you don't win, but you don't need to blame other people. If you win, be arrogant and have a Mo Ali moment, but if you lose try and be a bit humble and then bounce back.

jimmythecuckoo

If it gives him the edge then I can put up with it.

Tom Butcher

I don't mind riders doing stuff in the heat of the moment - I've always liked McEwen and I like Cav - having said that I have no idea why he was pointing to the other rider instead of sprinting the other day and I don't share his belief that only sprinters should contest sprint finishes - but then again I'm not the one having to go wheel to wheel with them at 40mph.

LangerDan

For all the support, not one of you has wished him a Happy Birthday

23 today

murcof

I think he's 22 today.

LangerDan

Nope - 23 (born in '85) http://www.highroadsports.com/team/7-Mark-Cavendish

Moomaloid

I just think that he's over eager and supremely keen. he also loves riding his bike. He's like a little kid when he wins. Did u see him after his and Wiggin's Madison win, he was trying to drag Brad all over the velodrome which was funny to watch.

He does need to get his chip off his shoulder a bit mind you. In the recent article in cycle sport (i think) he kept bemoaning the fact that people in this country want him to trip up. I've never heard anyone in this country say anything of the sort. he also moaned about the lack of support from the public in this country. This was upsetting to read. Surely having been in the sport as long as he has he's well aware of the amount of media support that the sport will get here, yet he seemed to disregard the huge amount of support that he is getting from the cycling fans of the UK.

Overall i think its exciting to have a brit regularly at the front of the bunch, and he needs to keep his attitude because thats part of his strength.

colinth1

I'm all for a bit of confidence / arrogance, but he's just coming across as a nob. I lost respect for him after what he did to Cipo, sych out opponents etc etc OK. But taking the pi$$ out of a legend in his twighlight showed a complete lack of class. I'd like to see him do something like that to Mcewan, he'd probably rip his head off

Jez mon

It was abit of Micky taking...once Cav realised how much he'd offended Cipo he apologized. Besides would the british cycling fans rather a "classy" domestique, or an arrogant, cocky winner.

I know I would far prefer the later, but sometimes i think others wouldn't.

forearms Van Petegem

listen, he carries on like a pork chop. He is arrogant, and dismissive of others, BUT OH SO COMPELLING.

The sport needs colour off the bike to. I luv Cav the way he is. Even if he carries on like a dickhead, and signs some sham anti-doping certificate.

The guy is an entertainment machine, on and off the bike. I hope he sets his heights, I mean sights, higher than just GT sprints and sprint jerseys. He is more talented than just a sprinter. He is doing some great things for a 22yo.

andyp

forearms Van Petegem wrote:

The guy is an entertainment machine, on and off the bike.

I'm still chuckling at his podium appearance after winning the Grote Scheldeprijs this year.

colint

I agree about the Cipo thing, it was way way way out of order, but he's still a kid so we have to cut him a bit of slack.

shockedsoshocked

What exactly did he do to Cipo?

colint

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

What exactly did he do to Cipo?

In the Tour of California (I think) this year he caught Cipo in the TT, took one foot out the pedal and rode past using 1 leg. Cipo hit the roof (as you'd expect).

andrewgturnbull

colint wrote:

I agree about the Cipo thing, it was way way way out of order, but he's still a kid so we have to cut him a bit of slack.

Get over yourself. Cipo isn't some kind of demi-god. He's an ex-cyclist who attempted a comeback for publicity reasons. This incident was blown out of proportion as part of the same publicity stunt...

Cheers, Andy

Tom Butcher

If he rode past him with one leg it was probably Cipo that was having a laugh anyway.

forearms Van Petegem

colint wrote:

I agree about the Cipo thing, it was way way way out of order, but he's still a kid so we have to cut him a bit of slack.

come on, it is the same thing a young Cipo would have done