Is Cav Goosed ?

paul_bhoy

I cant believe the comment he made after todays stage, saying he's got nothing to learn.

Who is he kidding, he could start with humility.

sing_for_absolution

afx237vi wrote:

gkerr4 wrote:

you know what I mean....

as said - a stock answer would have done - he didn't have to go off on one as he did!

Please... he hardly "went off on one". He had a bit of a strop, that's all. And they were dumbass questions.

Yes a stock answer would have worked, but how boring is that?! Sport is meant to be about passion and emotion, not neatly contrived PR soundbites pre-screened by Nike. You can keep your Federers and Tigers Wood' and Lewis Hamiltons, they're boring as hell.

Yep agreed. I'd rather see a bad loser than one quite content to have not won. With age, he'll learn to tone down a bit, but we can't forget he's still young.

afx237vi

paul_bhoy wrote:

I cant believe the comment he made after todays stage, saying he's got nothing to learn.

Who is he kidding, he could start with humility.

That's not what he said. He was asked if he'd learned anything today. Stock answer: "I learned the Tour is a hard race, there are no easy wins for sprinters."

But he learned that last year. So what did he learn today? Answer: Avoid journalists until you cool down and get your breath back.

ajohn9

I love Cav. Hes in a highly pressured environment in the Tour. Will have been set objectives and todays stage will have been one of them. If a journo (most of em seem like w@nkers) asked me a shite question like that after a disappointing stage id give em and answer like that aswell. Hes a sprinter, yes he has a big ego and probably needs to calm it a bit. Give him a break, hes a better cyclist than any of us on here will ever be and knows what hes doing. You all seem far too quick for me to bash Cav, hes one of the best riders we've had for years. Lets see what he can do on the bike, as from what ive seen is a hell of a lot.

Alex

hammerite

I like him a little bit more after today. He made me laugh!

He had a bad day at the office, and has every right to be annoyed/sulky. It may have been his fault, it may have been his teams fault or may have been his DSs fault who cares whose fault, he still wasn't happy about it.

Yes he could give a stock answer about bouncing back, he could thank the fans, sponsors and lets not forget god after every interview. But like it or not we're European not American (stock answers, media training and thanking everyone is their domain!), and he's competing in what is still primarily a European dominated sport.

I don't understand French, Italian, Spanish languages, but you can guarantee that a lot of their riders get equally annoyed in interviews when things haven't worked out, it tends to be the European way!

don key

peanut wrote:

HarryB wrote:

God knows I pray for these people who Believe Mark to have sinned, why people no support this moderate little preacher. Big time Charlie who knows he's a superstir. agnoristict, cloud south who'll achieve burger for all in a minority spurt that 99% of the pube lick dote about

I Suggs east that you sooonkider moode rating your fool linguage and obstrenties. Three are children and no man remembers on these fumes .Mothers may find your long gauge acceptable but I do not and I'm not afraid to say it.I find it noffensive and rather telepathetic.
Thunk about how moight be ruding your poets

Im not sure

don key

paul_bhoy wrote:

I cant believe the comment he made after todays stage, saying he's got nothing to learn.

Who is he kidding, he could start with humility.

If Peanuts doing the teaching this statement may be true.

Jez mon

Oh no he was a little bit sulky to a journalist who asked him a silly question, whats the world coming to...

Some of you guys need to calm the **** down! Seriously, his team mucked it right up today, this was potentially his stage to win yet the chase fell to pieces. Then when Cav gets to the end of riding 208 Km, some journo starts asking stupido questions. Guess what, there's gonna be a reaction.

The way I look at it is Cav's a d*** [cue long Team America speech about ****s ******s and *******s]

iainf72

You say tomato, I say I hope he gets thumped by Robbie and Thor in any sprints which do happen from now on.

Who want to join my ABC campaign - Anyone But Cav!

leguape

craigenty wrote:

Ok you guys, stick to supporting the Frank Brunos and Eddie the Eagles of this world. I'll follow The Cavs and Andy Murrays.

PS is this interview on youtube yet?

Cheers

That's Andy Murray who got taught an almighty lesson by Nadal and, let's face it, only beat Gasquet because he folded after the 3rd set tie break. Not to mention refusing to speak to a key broadcaster for months and throwing his toys out the pram in print over a legitimate question about match-rigging in tennis. He's also had a massive PR campaign to shift his image from petulant brat over Wimbledon.

Cav didn't have to say anything, you never do in those situations. The questions were perfectly fair and entirely sensible. Blaming CSC and claiming that it was everyone else's fault the break wasn't brought back was nonsense.

The GC riders didn't cock it up, they let a break go, handed off the jersey pressure until at least stage 7 to a non-GC team (none of the break was from GC teams) or so and allowed their domestiques a couple of easy days until the Super Besse stage when they'll be needed to control gaps.

cougie

Jeez - us cyclists like to knock people down dont we ?

So Cav hasnt won a stage out of the three so far... So he didnt have a witty retort to the interviewer metres after the finish...

He was the best sprinter at the Giro this year- do some people have short memories ?

I'm sure it will all come good in the end.

Maybe we should send in some nice one liners for him to write on his bars - then he can read them in mid sprint and have them ready as soon as he crosses the line ?

Anonymous

Some posts have been deleted due to over-colourful language use which was flagged to us. Please control the language you use on the forum. Thanks.

robmanic1

I only said duck

robmanic1

ajohn9 wrote:

I love Cav. Hes in a highly pressured environment in the Tour. Will have been set objectives and todays stage will have been one of them. If a journo (most of em seem like w@nkers) asked me a shite question like that after a disappointing stage id give em and answer like that aswell. Hes a sprinter, yes he has a big ego and probably needs to calm it a bit. Give him a break, hes a better cyclist than any of us on here will ever be and knows what hes doing. You all seem far too quick for me to bash Cav, hes one of the best riders we've had for years. Lets see what he can do on the bike, as from what ive seen is a hell of a lot.

Alex

....and you missed one

sicrow

sicrow wrote:

Don't know what anyone else thinks but everything doesn't seem to be going with the usual flow, is it all the media hype or a shallow point getting ready for Beijing but he doesn't look on the money in the last 2 days

Didn't really mean to start such a furore - just inquisitive as to whether he was more working up to the olympics than this yrs TdF

anyway having picked him in 3 stages so far he has stepped up to the mark

Well done I'm delighted

st68

well done that man for once the rain done me a favour i took the afternoon off and watched the race fantastic

Van_Heerden

I don't want to be down on the guy because what he has done is great and well done to him. He still managed to have a go at the British race fans in his interviews and sounded like a petulant child. I realise there has to be some arrogance to be good, but some of the other really good sprinters are certainly not like that.

I also have to say we seem to be doing that typical British thing and a Tour win suddenly makes him the best and fastest sprinter in the world!

Anyone reallybelieve this? Certainly has the potential to be so but not yet in my opinion.

Before some jump on me for my comments, i think he has done a great job and i'm very pleased for him but lets not all be too hasty in handing over the crown.

bagpusscp

All ye of little faith.....time to eat your hats......

thamacdaddy

Van_Heerden wrote:

He still managed to have a go at the British race fans in his interviews and sounded like a petulant child.

See I think this is about intepretation. I personally took that as a pop at the general public and media in the UK which unless its the TDF or Olympics have zero understanding of cycling or his achievements. Not to fault them for that, its not a popular sport per se however what he said is in fact true if you actually take it on board rather than react to it. I don't really think thats a pop at "race fans" who should of course have a deeper interest. Which brings me on to point two:

Van_Heerden wrote:

I also have to say we seem to be doing that typical British thing and a Tour win suddenly makes him the best and fastest sprinter in the world!

Anyone reallybelieve this? Certainly has the potential to be so but not yet in my opinion.

I think people like me who rate him highly based on seeing what he has achieved this season are not "believing the hype" but actually making a sound judgement. This year he has beaten Boonen, Zabel, Friere, Hunter, Mcewen, Bennati, Hushvod all being that at times he has had the perfect stages and situations but anyone who saw him blow away the competition in the Giro in three stages cannot begin to question he is the real deal. There is a reason everyone in the peloton is in agreement that he is the fastest there is and for me the only guy who really is up there is Boonen which is a shame he isn't there this year to see some great sprints between the two.

Its not his tour win that makes him the greatest sprinter all of a sudden it just cements what the achievements of this year have been pointing towards, that on track and on the road he is one of the greatest sprinters in the world right now and hopefully has an amazing future.

To be fair he owes a lot to his team which with two other strong sprinters and great lead out men in hansen, wiggins (when there) hincapie et al he has it all put there for him. I think he might have gone further than admitting on ITV 4 that he was in a bad mood on stage 3 and actually apologise a little but there is nothing wrong with the way he is, its just not very British, we don't like arrogance and we love humble second placers. I hope he does as he says and finishes the tour and goes and cleans up at the olympics with the great british team we have and carries on raising the profile of cycling here in the UK.

I think you could see straight after the stage in his first interview how much this meant to him today and maybe now this is a corner turned for him and the step on the road of knowing that he has proven to all he does have the skills and now can focus on being a top professional for years to come.

Van_Heerden

thamacdaddy - thanks for taking the time to make a measured response to my post. i enjoyed reading it and I have to say that I feel the same as you in most of the comments you make, and it is just that, i believe he is the quickest in the pack and i can see that, his turn of pace is incredinble and he is certainly one of the best in the world.

Its not that I don't like arrogance, I think you need a good measure of it to be the best but you can also be very humble and still do the business - look no further than Mr Hushovd who is always first to thank his team for their excellent work and i don't recall him giving a bad interview. I would like to see a little bit more of this from Cavendish because he wouldn't/won't be half as good if he doesn't have a happy team willing to work for him.

I certainly do not question he is the real deal and I too hope he can do the whole tour and rake in the medals at the Olympics. I want to see his continued development to become one of the sprinting greats. I certainly forsee a green jersey in years to come once he can be a bit more competitve in the lumpy stages.

I also noticed one thing, and i'm not sure if it is just me but it seems most of the stages he is winning, he seems to spend just about the whole ride right on the back of the peleton unlike the others who seem to sit in the middle/front third. I think this is again just more overall strength/stamina development. Could also just be a very clever tactic. Not sure how many friends it will win him though.

I think you may be right and i might have misinterpreted his comments.

thamacdaddy

I would hope that he gets a bit of media training maybe so people will hold him up for his achievements and not put him down for the way he comes across in interviews. I totally agree I think he is at a great point now to go on and be a really big deal in cycling and given he does clean up the attitude that winds up a great deal he could also be a great brit sportsman too, not just successful.

I think for me he has been a little off in comments but he hasn't been totally untruthful at any point but different things can be taken different ways. I think he borders between being totally grounded and a little bit arrogant and I don't really mind it but I can totally see how it would wind people up. At least he delivers where as people like Amir Khan (I am a big boxing fan) do my head in chiming on about being the greatest and ready to take on the best in the world when they proove time and time again they are not at that level. Thats when arrogance really gets on my nerves. For Cav at least at the mo I think he actually does what he says even if people don't like that.

But hats off mate totally respect your opinion thats what forums are for 8) Totally love the giro and tour etc three weeks of watching some great racing and seeing some great equipment and scenary!

Van_Heerden

Yeah, I love the Giro too. Was off work for lots of that, so fixed myself some espresso and sat down to take it all in. I'm with Duffers on the Giro, best one on the calendar.

Nice to trade views with you. Not often many poeple can hold their views, trade them with other an not end up in a row.

Enjoy the rest of Le Tour!

avoidingmyphd

Why do people like media training so much?

It just teaches athletes to spout platitudes and ignore the questions they're asked.

So the choice is between an honest athlete who will come across as grumpy when he's grumpy and elated when he's elated, or an effectively dishonest media trained robot who comes across as boring whatever the situation. Why on earth do so many people prefer the latter?

Oh - and in Cav's defence he is never slow to thank his team when he wins and acknowledge his reliance on them whenever he gives interviews.

SteveR_100Milers

Lets not forget he is a Scally after all so what can you expect?

bagpusscp

I hope Cav makes it to Paris ....Then Watch him Fly.......

st68

cav has got a point the sports media in this country is only interested in losers who kick hit or bash balls he wont get a backpage tommorow if lucky he might get a few lines but lampard "who is overrated" & scholari/ronaldo "who aint british" will & the footballs not even on at the moment :evil:

thamacdaddy

avoidingmyphd wrote:

Why do people like media training so much?

It just teaches athletes to spout platitudes and ignore the questions they're asked.

So the choice is between an honest athlete who will come across as grumpy when he's grumpy and elated when he's elated, or an effectively dishonest media trained robot who comes across as boring whatever the situation. Why on earth do so many people prefer the latter?

Oh - and in Cav's defence he is never slow to thank his team when he wins and acknowledge his reliance on them whenever he gives interviews.

I actually prefer them without media training for the points you said however I don't actually think its as black and white as that due to the fact with a little of someone in PR saying listen up mark its fine to be racked off just don't say things like "I don't need to learn anything". Few times he could still say quite openly he is unhappy but maybe temper a little bit of going off....its totally natural however and I would rather see that someone is angry and letting off steam (I know perfectly reasonable people who act ridiculous when angry) than someone being fake.

Unfortunately I think it does him a disservice as you can see here people getting on his back and that is universal reaction to when he blows his lid and I don't think for a minute he is actually being malicious he just bursts out with stuff when his temper is frayed. I think ITV the other day intentionally went with the stupid questions and have to take some responsibility for the reaction but it made a great 2 min segment for their show eh?

I think if he isn't featured in any of the papers tomorrow then the media here really is a poor show. Who cares about whether or not lampard has fallen out with big phil when the first brit in a long time is the big news in cycling in one of the biggest events in sport.

rustychisel

Well, I'd say he answered his critics fairly emphatically.

Incidentally, I suspect Robbie McEwen rates him and even likes him a little, no names him as one to watch, which is quite unlike Robbie when he's in a fighting mood... except when he's making his excuses.

Point is, Cavendish and Columbia did everything right last night.

Nuggs

rustychisel wrote:

Point is, Cavendish and Columbia did everything right last night.

+1

It was a masterclass...

Belv

I am glad that when i've had a bad day at work, no one sticks a microphone in my face and asks me if the day went as i planned. Otherwise i'd be unemployed.

The media can make and break sportsmen, certainly in terms of their financial value, if not their pure ability which is the only reason i think Cav might need to learn to bite his tongue. Personally i want to see them in pain when they don't win. I want excuses and tempers. Top sportsmen are doing what the rest of us (think we) would love to do and i want to know how much it means to them.

Yesterday it seemed to mean a lot to Mark