Cavendish

inseine

Well if he does, Knedicky, I hope it makes you feel good. If codemnation of our best road cyclist for years brings you pleasure I really don't know what to think of you. At the age of 23 and in his first Tour he's done amazingly well to get this far, let alone win three stages. Have you any idea how hard it is?

dirk_van_gently

I thought his comment that he was no "tired" was quite funny, he still managed to hammer the sprint.
Let's hope he does go all the way to Paris, but if he decides to rest ready for the Olympics then that also makes sense, it's not going to be an easy decision either way.

Let's not condemn him yet, he'll get enough $#it from the media.

cougie

knedlicky - what planet are you on ?

Super Mario usually buggered off before we saw the mountains. Plus - this is Cavs first Tour. Not many 23 year olds are expected to do the whole tour at that age.

Cav has struggled through the Pyrenees, and now has the Alps to get through. Maybe he should batter his body on the climbs - just so his critics are happy. But then he'll have no chance of racing well in the Olympics.

I'd like him to get to Paris if he can - but thats up to him entirely.

redddraggon

cougie wrote:

Plus - this is Cavs first Tour.

He did the tour last year

muggomagic

I think he should pull out now. 3 stage wins is more than he planned for. He needs to take some time out and prepare for the Olympics. British cycling has to get a certain amount of medals at the Olympics to justify the funding it receives.
The tour comes every year, but the Olympics are important not just on a personal level, but for every cyclist in the country.
If Cav feels he can make it to Paris and still be ready for Beijing then I'd love to see him win that sprint in Paris, but the Olympics are massively important for us all.

redddraggon

muggomagic wrote:

I think he should pull out now. 3 stage wins is more than he planned for. He needs to take some time out and prepare for the Olympics. British cycling has to get a certain amount of medals at the Olympics to justify the funding it receives.
The tour comes every year, but the Olympics are important not just on a personal level, but for every cyclist in the country.
If Cav feels he can make it to Paris and still be ready for Beijing then I'd love to see him win that sprint in Paris, but the Olympics are massively important for us all.

Huh? To a pro cyclist winning stages in the Tour is what really pays his wages, the Olympics isn't really much more than a sideshow every four years.

muggomagic

Yes I agree that winning grand tour stages is what it's all about on a personal level, but as I said. British cycling will need to get a certain amount of medals in beijing to justify their funding and I think it has an effect on how much they get in future.

cougie

Whats Cav up for in the Olympics ? Madison again ? Thats quite a tricky one to pull off isnt it ?

Eurostar

I hope Cav takes it day by day with a view to just clinging on until Paris. Why not? Can't it function as part of his Olympic build-up? What harm can getting very tired in the Tour do to his form in August for the Madison? It's great experience for the boy, and if Hushovd etc. should suffer some misfortune he could still be in with a shout of green.

wiffachip

saw they were after a nickname for him


Cav the chav

chavendish

quick off the



ok, I'll get me coat

neonwarhead

Eurostar wrote:

It's great experience for the boy, and if Hushovd etc. should suffer some misfortune he could still be in with a shout of green.

Equal 2nd at the moment...must be tempting to go for Paris...

knedlicky

DavidBelcher wrote:

knedlicky wrote:

Cavendish sort-of suggested in his interview today that he’d pull out before Paris. If he does, I hope he gets as much condemnation as Super-Mario did in his day for such behaviour.

Why? Cipo just seemed to throw in the towel as and when he felt like it. … the Olympics are after all an equally big, if not bigger, objective for his season. …Cipo, from memory, usually seemed to bottle it at the first sniff of a serious gradient.

inseine wrote:

If codemnation of our best road cyclist for years brings you pleasure I really don't know what to think of you. At the age of 23 and in his first Tour he's done amazingly well to get this far, let alone win three stages. Have you any idea how hard it is?

cougie wrote:

knedlicky - what planet are you on ? Super Mario usually buggered off before we saw the mountains. Plus - this is Cavs first Tour. Not many 23 year olds are expected to do the whole tour at that age. Cav has struggled through the Pyrenees, and now has the Alps to get through. Maybe he should batter his body on the climbs - just so his critics are happy. But then he'll have no chance of racing well in the Olympics. I'd like him to get to Paris if he can - but thats up to him entirely.

muggomagic wrote:

I think he should pull out now. 3 stage wins is more than he planned for. He needs to take some time out and prepare for the Olympics. British cycling has to get a certain amount of medals at the Olympics to justify the funding it receives. The tour comes every year, but the Olympics are important not just on a personal level, but for every cyclist in the country.
If Cav feels he can make it to Paris and still be ready for Beijing then I'd love to see him win that sprint in Paris, but the Olympics are massively important for us all.

muggomagic wrote:

Yes I agree that winning grand tour stages is what it's all about on a personal level, but as I said. British cycling will need to get a certain amount of medals in beijing to justify their funding and I think it has an effect on how much they get in future.

Since I got 'stick' from several people for my comment about Cavendish's possible Tour withdrawal, I'm replying to all in one post.

After he’d proved himself, Super Mario had clauses written in his contract allowing him to drop out when they reached the high mountains, and even then he didn’t always make use of the clauses, e.g. he completed several Giro including over the Dolomites. Cav hasn’t reached that status yet.

As a professional, Cav’s allegiance should be to his employer and the team, even if he’d like to do well at the Olympics. I don’t see the choice to drop out of the Tour, or not, 'entirely' up to him.
Do you think Rooney could get away with walking off the pitch after 60 mins in the Cup Final, saying to Ferguson “I’ve scored a couple of goals and don’t want to tire myself out for the England match next weekend”? And even if Ferguson did have a soft spot in his heart that day, at least he could send on Saha or Tevez as substitute. No substitutes are allowed in the Tour; essentially it's a team event and every man counts.

I don’t think the Olympics that relevant to professional cycling. I don’t imagine many football fans can say who won the last couple of Olympic gold medals in football, although they can probably tell me every team who won the Champions League and World Cup in the last 4 decades. If Cav saw Olympic success as his main ambition (and didn't feel he could re-generate in time - although it seems plenty time to me), he shouldn’t have agreed to do the Tour (the team is chosen by the manager but riders are also asked if they are happy to be in the selection)

Of course I know how hard the Tour is, there isn’t a major climb in this year’s Tour I’ve never ridden, and I even know the terrain they were today from amateur races, in much higher temperatures.
Cav’s age and what he’s already achieved is irrelevant - he’s not that young compared to many riders past and present who’ve completed the Tour and, once selected, he both should be up to finishing it and want to finish it.
If you accept him dropping out, would you be happy if those who did well in the TTs or the mountains dropping out when it became clear they wouldn’t end up with a jersey in Paris?

I doubt how well the UK cyclists do in China will have any valuable effect on funding British cycling. In the past, resultant funding based on success in major events has mainly gone to those who were successful, whether Torvill & Dean or Paula Radcliffe, so they can finance their training. Very little funding has gone to promoting a sport, in which individuals have had success at the Olympics, at the grass roots level. The subsequent funding has always primarily had the short-term goal of supporting those who did well, in the hope they can repeat their success.

RichN95.

I can see your point, but

a) he's given Columbia (the sponsor rather than the team) their money's worth and much, much more

b) a win at the Olympics will help boost his profile with the general British public possibly more than the Tour wins will (stupid I know, but that's the way it is). And Britain will be a big market for Columbia.

c) Columbia (the team) have other sprinters - Ciolek, Eisel - who deserve a chance to have a go themselves, so it will keep them happy (Paris is the only Cav stage left, but there's a couple more Ciolek could challenge for). Plus it allows them to work fully for Kirchen.

d) he's still young. There's no point burning him out.

e) both Armstrong and Indurain premeditatedly dropped out of their first two Tours.

I expect he'll work for the team tomorrow and drop out on Sunday

Mark Alexander

I'm going for the intellectual's comment
Come on Cav!!!!!!!

RichN95.

Mark Alexander wrote:

I'm going for the intellectual's comment
Come on Cav!!!!!!!

The intellectuals are always right

OffTheBackAdam

Cavendish was one of the main attractions of the race, with many fans seeking his autograph. Even Belgian cycling star Freddy Maertens was eager to have the Manxman's signature on a Columbia jersey he brought along.

When Cavendish realised who it was standing in front of him his eyes lit up. "You have a fantastic set of results, man! I want your signature on my shirt," he said.

From cyclingnews.com
I suggest that's this is the real Mark Cavendish, without the pressures of winning on his back.

NervexProf

I watched the reprise of the Tour 2008 last night on Channel 4 and what struck me, via the interviews with Cav was his certaintity as to his ability.

We should all get behind Cav, and I for one look forward to seeing him on the first stage of the Tour of Britain in London on 7 September.

The huge bonus of Cav's results is that they will inspire countless youngsters who, like him will believe in themselves.