Cavendish

chewa

.....why is he such an arse.

Obviously a great talent but i thought last years petulant behaviour in the Tour was down to his horrible first week.

Did you see him being interviewed tonight? Came across as an ignorant twonk. Maybe he should realise that the sponsor money paying his wages comes from those of us who watch.

redddraggon

I like his and Ricco's interviews, they're not media-savvy.

Personally I don't care how people interview.

DaveyL

Perhaps not the best time to stick a mic in a sprinter's face - one of the few stages in the first week that looked good for the sprinters, and a combination of factors (weather, crash, misjudgement by the peloton) means they are fighting it out for 5th place. So yeah, let's get Cav as he crosses the line and stick a mic in his face.The ITV boys are prodding the riders and looking for an extreme reaction - Ned Boutling certainly got a few out of Cadel last year.

musto_skiff

I think he came over a right twat ... his only a pro sportsman because people watch, if I was the sponsor I wouldn't want to be associated with that attitude.

And if he thinks he knows it all now he will never improve further.

freakforsneaks

What was he supposed to say when asked waht he had learned? "i wont bother listening to the DS next time when he's giving out orders over the radio". I think he was being diplomatic by his surliness when he really wanted to slate his DS for not responding to the huge gap of the breakaway quick enough.

Jez mon

Link/transcript anyone??

pat1cp

Interviewer:- "When did you start chasing the escapees Mark"?
Cav:- "As soon as they went away".
Interviewer:- "What did you learn today"?
Cav:-"Nothing, don't need to learn anything".

I suggest he starts with learning a few manners, those were my immediate thoughts.

FCE2007

Is it so wrong to dislike someone I don't even know?

:x

jimmythecuckoo

When the interview with him was on the ITV preview show I was thinking how nice it was to have a Brit with a winners attitude (as opposed to a plucky losers mentality).

Last night he was a bit prickly at Matt Rendell's questions at best and did come across as a bit of a numpty.

We will all forgive him when he wins a stage.

vermooten

Both he and Millar have that arrogance which I suspect that pro needs, whether or not it comes across in interviews. I don't mind Cav, in fact I quite like his self-belief. Millar's arrogance winds me up though, not sure why.

gandhi

He'd just ridden 200km nearly as fast as he could, been aiming to win, but failed, in part due to circumstances beyond his control. Then someone walks up and asks him what he's learned.

I would have got of my bike and smacked him one. You can't really expect Cav to react well, he's pissed off and full of adrenalin - maybe it would have been better to interview him later.

I think good losers are pretty rare in top level sports, especially cycling which is so confidence driven.

celbianchi

gandhi wrote:

He'd just ridden 200km nearly as fast as he could, been aiming to win, but failed, in part due to circumstances beyond his control. Then someone walks up and asks him what he's learned.

I would have got of my bike and smacked him one. You can't really expect Cav to react well, he's pissed off and full of adrenalin - maybe it would have been better to interview him later.

I think good losers are pretty rare in top level sports, especially cycling which is so confidence driven.

Compare and contrast with Roger Federer's grace and class when he got pipped by Nadal on sunday night and was interviewed on court immediatley.

Cumulonimbus

I think he just didnt want to talk about it so gave those answers. This was probably a stage that he had pinned his hopes on and it didnt come back together. Dont know why it didnt come back together but i imagine that there was disagreement over who was going to pull it back with some teams having worked hard over the past few days and/or teams who have hopes for the GC so dont want to work every day.

Hey i like someone who actually gives you an idea of how they feel rather than the 'three points in the bag', doesnt matter who scores', 'looking forward to the next match' routine

gandhi

celbianchi wrote:

gandhi wrote:

He'd just ridden 200km nearly as fast as he could, been aiming to win, but failed, in part due to circumstances beyond his control. Then someone walks up and asks him what he's learned.

I would have got of my bike and smacked him one. You can't really expect Cav to react well, he's pissed off and full of adrenalin - maybe it would have been better to interview him later.

I think good losers are pretty rare in top level sports, especially cycling which is so confidence driven.

Compare and contrast with Roger Federer's grace and class when he got pipped by Nadal on sunday night and was interviewed on court immediatley.

Federer came across very well, obviously far better than Cavendish, but he is older, more experienced and more mature.

It is a slightly different loss though, Federer gave it his best, and was beaten by a better player, Cav messed up. It hurts more when you mess up, as it feels like it wasn't a fair fight.

He'll probably become a better loser with age, but I still think that you can't expect people to give a classy interview right after losing a hard race. Obviously there are exceptions.

iainf72

gandhi wrote:

He'll probably become a better loser with age, but I still think that you can't expect people to give a classy interview right after losing a hard race. Obviously there are exceptions.

He didn't exactly lose though, did he?

He must've known for 20 minutes he wasn't going to be challenging for the win. I don't even know why he sprinted as he's not going for the green.

Cumulonimbus

iainf72 wrote:

gandhi wrote:

He'll probably become a better loser with age, but I still think that you can't expect people to give a classy interview right after losing a hard race. Obviously there are exceptions.

He didn't exactly lose though, did he?

He must've known for 20 minutes he wasn't going to be challenging for the win. I don't even know why he sprinted as he's not going for the green.

I think that Cav would have gone into yesterday's stage thinking that he stood a good chance of winning therefore he would look as yesterday as a loss.

lloyd_bower

gandhi wrote:

celbianchi wrote:

gandhi wrote:

He'd just ridden 200km nearly as fast as he could, been aiming to win, but failed, in part due to circumstances beyond his control. Then someone walks up and asks him what he's learned.

I would have got of my bike and smacked him one. You can't really expect Cav to react well, he's pissed off and full of adrenalin - maybe it would have been better to interview him later.

I think good losers are pretty rare in top level sports, especially cycling which is so confidence driven.

Compare and contrast with Roger Federer's grace and class when he got pipped by Nadal on sunday night and was interviewed on court immediatley.

Federer came across very well, obviously far better than Cavendish, but he is older, more experienced and more mature.

It is a slightly different loss though, Federer gave it his best, and was beaten by a better player, Cav messed up. It hurts more when you mess up, as it feels like it wasn't a fair fight.

He'll probably become a better loser with age, but I still think that you can't expect people to give a classy interview right after losing a hard race. Obviously there are exceptions.

I'm not sure, Federer's just pure class, and comes across excellently win or lose (usually the former) in whatever of the many languages he speaks. He'll be back no doubt, I can't see him doing a Borg and quitting until he's got Sampras's slam record of 14.

idaviesmoore

I think interviewing a sportsperson directly after a difficult day at the office is always a bit of a gamble. It's easy for us mere mortals to be aghast at Cavendish's surliness, but let's face it most of the great cyclists were the same. Hinault was hardly a good interviewee when he was battered ( which was rare) and neither was Mercx or Armstrong. Us club riders will never really know the pain and anguish these men (and women) go through and yes you could say that that's their job, but nevertheless I think we should cut him a little slack. Keep in mind his tender years and the many hard miles still to come, not just in the Tour but for the rest of the year and Cavendish can be forgiven for feeling a little touchy about things.
I was a little disappointed by his monosyllabic answers but, taking everything into consideration, I think they'd caught him at a bad time. Whether he regrets it now is debatable, he's got far more pressing things on his mind and, say what you like, he's the best hope we've got for Tour glory.

But David Miller....that's another issue altogether. He gets on my bloody nerves!!!

Courage Monsieur

It's great to have Cav and I'm prepared to cut him some slack because of his age, but he did come across as a real ar5e last night.

MrKawamura

Here's a short BBC interview for anyone who's not heard it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/7494525.stm

FullFrameRob

Federer is a class act, got his ass kicked at Roland Garros by Nadal and then lost his only chance to win Wimbledon 6 X in a row. Then gets Sue Barker sticking a microphone in his face.

As for Cav he comes across as a bit of a numpty. I guess for Federer he's been there & done it, Cav's still got a bit of growing up to do.

natrix

Cav definitely comes across as a complete arrogant a5se, especially compared to riders like McEwan who interviews well. Personally, I'd be disapointed to see him win a stage.

DavidBelcher

nypd wrote:

As for Cav he comes across as a bit of a numpty. I guess for Federer he's been there & done it, Cav's still got a bit of growing up to do.

I think age is a big factor - no doubt he'll be more used to that sort of thing as his time in the pro ranks increases and deal with it differently rather than coming across as downright rude. Though having an interviewer shove a mike in your face after umpteen fruitless miles in the saddle is bound to get anyone's back up to some extent.

David

idaviesmoore

barnesr wrote:

Cav definitely comes across as a complete arrogant a5se, especially compared to riders like McEwan who interviews well. Personally, I'd be disapointed to see him win a stage.

:shock: You'd be disapointed to see a Brit win a stage in the Tour?....tsk...tsk.Shame on you. We're hardly storming the world at the moment in any sport other than cycling. Yes, he may appear a bit on an ar5e but, come on, I think that's a bit strong. :!:

chewa

DavidBelcher wrote:

Though having an interviewer shove a mike in your face after umpteen fruitless miles in the saddle is bound to get anyone's back up to some extent.

David

I suppose the difference is you and I don't get paid for being interviewed after a days work. He has a responsibility to his sponsors (and ultimately us as consumers) and being interviewed is part of his "job"

No-one can doubt his talent and one would think that, as he knows he's good, that would be a bit of a comfort to him and he'd put up with the "bad" side of things.

Can you imagine a non cyclist watching that wee bit.? Put anyone off watching the sport.

cougie

We dont want much do we.

World Class Cyclists wanted. Must not be arses. Apply to British Cycling.

Sorry Mr Merckx - we cant have you - you just want to win, and thats not the plucky british attitude at all....

idaviesmoore

...and anyway, most good cyclists are miserable f*@kers at the best of times. Taciturn and dour. That's why I'm such a happy-go lucky so-and-so. Ask any of my 1 friends, go on....ask them.....I SAID ASK THEM!!!!!! :twisted:

DavidBelcher

chewa wrote:

I suppose the difference is you and I don't get paid for being interviewed after a days work. He has a responsibility to his sponsors (and ultimately us as consumers) and being interviewed is part of his "job"
quote]

True - after all, I've had to deal with many a phone call in the workplace from an awkward and/or clueless customer, and keeping your cool is a must at all times, as is the old adage "think all you speak, but speak not all you think" [1].

David

[1] As featured on Messrs. Shadrack & Duxbury's "flaming calendars"

Croxted Avenger

chewa wrote:

I suppose the difference is you and I don't get paid for being interviewed after a days work. He has a responsibility to his sponsors (and ultimately us as consumers) and being interviewed is part of his "job".

And contractually, he held up his end of the bargain. He could also have refused to say anything at all.

andy_wrx

Perhaps now that the BBC have finally sacked Sally Gunnell from conducting those abosolutely abysmal post-race athletics interviews, ITV4 could get her to do the same for cycling.
- Cav would probably have told her where to shove the mike !

But it was interesting, that despite having the awful Sally G and her irritating crass banal questions, how many athletes gave a reasonable interview despite having just failed in a race.
Some like Dwayne Chambers came across as complete dorks (perhaps because he is ?), but most seemed to have taken on-board some of the charm-school lessons that UK Athletics tried to give them as to how to talk to the press.

I expect that British Cycling, and High Road, have similar charm-schools - just looks like it didn't work with Cav !

gkerr4

Croxted Avenger wrote:

chewa wrote:

I suppose the difference is you and I don't get paid for being interviewed after a days work. He has a responsibility to his sponsors (and ultimately us as consumers) and being interviewed is part of his "job".

And contractually, he held up his end of the bargain. He could also have refused to say anything at all.

in many ways he'd have been better not saying anything - a very brief "i'm sorry, I really don't want to chat at the moment" - would have been many times better for him than the 'response' he gave.