Cavendish & “disrespect”

scottfrasernz

Winning a few stages then sodding off mid-race because there's another race in six weeks

Surely that's direspecting the Giro rather more than saying you're targetting the TTT

Actions speak louder than words, even if you're Mark Cavendish

Full respect for taking Milan-San Remo but the Giro stage wins are devalued in my book when you blow the race off at the half way point

IMHO he needs to cut out the mouthing off about others who are actually committed to finishing the event

Dunno what others think

pottssteve

I think it won't be an issue if he brings home 4 or 5 stages in the Tour.

Steve

Bhima

I don't think you can compare it with the Garmin-Slipstream affair. Cav has targetted quite a few races before leaving and he's only 1 person. Compare that to a whole team that was just targetting one race and it's a bit more ridiculous when you look at them.

Le Commentateur

Has a house in Italy and trains there during the season, probably in future Giros will be doing interviews on Italian TV, like McEwen, in Italian.

I'd say that shows respect for Italy as a hub of the cycling world.

As for quitting early, he's a realist not an idealist.

wicked

Thats right. Nobody else has ever quit have they? Cav is the first sprinter ever to not finish a grand tour. Any other sprinter and no-one bats an eyelid but because its Cav we get these comments. :roll:

scwxx77

I'm sure the organizers are livid they won't get to see him labour over some mountains in the next week.

aurelio_-_banned

wicked wrote:

Thats right. Nobody else has ever quit have they? Cav is the first sprinter ever to not finish a grand tour. Any other sprinter and no-one bats an eyelid but because its Cav we get these comments. :roll:

As I recall Cippolini got a lot of flak because of his habit of not even trying to finish the Tour and the organisers even denied him a ride because of this 'lack of respect'.

peanut

scottfrasernz wrote:

Winning a few stages then sodding off mid-race because there's another race in six weeks

Surely that's direspecting the Giro rather more than saying you're targetting the TTT

Actions speak louder than words, even if you're Mark Cavendish

You asked so I'll tell you what I think for what it is worth . I think you and other knockers should give the guy a break. he is the most talented male rider the UK has ever seen or is likely to see.

Kléber

aurelio wrote:

As I recall Cippolini got a lot of flak because of his habit of not even trying to finish the Tour and the organisers even denied him a ride because of this 'lack of respect'.

That's right. But first of all that was the Tour, a race that commands even bigger respect than the Giro. Above all, Cipo would just abandon at the feed of the first mountain stage.

Cavendish has come through the mountainous stages. Perhaps it is a bit disrespectful but cycling is not always about worshipping each race. It's Operation Green Jersey now and given the way this guy picks objects and then meets them, it's fine. Besides, he's only 24 and two Grand Tours in one year is a lot, especially since he's been winning since Qatar.

dulldave

Wind yer neck in Peanut. He asked for your opinion not for you to ridicule his.

I don't think there's been a single sportmen that has appeared on television who I could beat at their particular sport. Should I refrain from critising any sportsman when watching sport because they're better than me? It must be a barrel of laughs watching sport round your house.

I think it was right for Cav to save himself for the tour and I don't think it shows disrespect, it's just realism and prioritisation.

peanut

dulldave wrote:

Wind yer neck in Peanut. He asked for your opinion not for you to ridicule his.

he asked for my opinion and he got it. Fed up with people sitting on their butts and knocking British achievers in sport and business.

teagar

Kléber wrote:

aurelio wrote:

As I recall Cippolini got a lot of flak because of his habit of not even trying to finish the Tour and the organisers even denied him a ride because of this 'lack of respect'.

That's right. But first of all that was the Tour, a race that commands even bigger respect than the Giro. Above all, Cipo would just abandon at the feed of the first mountain stage.

It's not quite right. It wasn't really about respect. Cipo's team wasn't invited because the rest of the team was completely useless, so that when he did retire, which he would, the Tour would be left with a rubbish team that wouldn't do anything. Hence Lefevre inviting another team, which ended up winning a stage.


Read your pro-cycling guys! C'mon! It's all in this month's issue.

Cavendish just did the whole disprect thing as part of the mind games for the first stage. It's all part of the fun.

There's no hipocracy. He shows the Giro enough respect to win three stages. He knows he's not properly in for a shout for the purple jersey so why should he finish the Giro?

cougie

Seems perfectly sensible to me. He has dominated the Giro and the race is that much richer for his turns of speed. If he wants to be going well in the Tour then a week in the mountains probably isnt the best bet.

This is interesting though - a few years back we were lucky to have one domestique riding a Grand Tour. Now we have 8 or 9 brits, one of whom is the best sprinter in the world (or damn close) and some people slag him off for retiring from a race. Us Brits can moan about anything....

Anyway - just off to buy a duck island....

gregssmirkingrevenge

peanut wrote:

dulldave wrote:

Wind yer neck in Peanut. He asked for your opinion not for you to ridicule his.

he asked for my opinion and he got it. Fed up with people sitting on their butts and knocking British achievers in sport and business.

You seem really offended, are you Mark Cavendish?

I think he should have finished the race. What's he doing this week that is so important? Riding a week with a few mountains is hardly gonna harm his tour preparation is it? Completing a long stage race sounds perfect preparation to get the green jersey come july in my opinion. If he's worried about fatigue he doesn't have to destroy himself on the climbs by any means, just take it easy and see the race out.

Cav is really arrogant, which is cool because he has the talent and style to pull it off. But you have to admit, it's abit like turning up to a award show, picking up your award and then loudly fooking off during somebody else's speech. "Right i've done my bit, i'm off!" Out of respect of the race and everyone involved he should have quietly and politely finished, if at all possible.

He's alot faster than me on a bike though so what do i know?

aurelio_-_banned

teagar wrote:

It wasn't really about respect. Cipo's team wasn't invited because the rest of the team was completely useless, so that when he did retire, which he would, the Tour would be left with a rubbish team that wouldn't do anything.

OK, fair enough.

<edit mode>

As I recall Cippolini got a lot of flak because of his habit of not even trying to finish the Tour and the organisers even denied him a ride because they knew he wouldn't finish.

</edit mode>

cougie

Greg - how many MSR, Tour and Giro winners have you coached lately ?

I'm kinda thinking that Cav knows what he's doing slightly more than us onlookers...

His team wanted to pull him out earlier than this, but he wanted to win in Florence.

don key

aurelio wrote:

wicked wrote:

Thats right. Nobody else has ever quit have they? Cav is the first sprinter ever to not finish a grand tour. Any other sprinter and no-one bats an eyelid but because its Cav we get these comments. :roll:

As I recall Cippolini got a lot of flak because of his habit of not even trying to finish the Tour and the organisers even denied him a ride because of this 'lack of respect'.

That was because he was Istallion and covering/causing a lot of mares night.

Kelly just covered the subject with Ourman on Herospurt.

FCE2007

don key wrote:

... Herospurt.

dulldave

peanut wrote:

dulldave wrote:

Wind yer neck in Peanut. He asked for your opinion not for you to ridicule his.

he asked for my opinion and he got it. Fed up with people sitting on their butts and knocking British achievers in sport and business.

He asked for your opinion about Cavendish pulling out. Not for your opinion of him having a very reasoned and understandable opinion of his own.

Even though I don't agree with him.

Garry H

teagar wrote:

It's not quite right. It wasn't really about respect. Cipo's team wasn't invited because the rest of the team was completely useless, so that when he did retire, which he would, the Tour would be left with a rubbish team that wouldn't do anything. Hence Lefevre inviting another team, which ended up winning a stage.

Thought it was Leblanc that invited the other team?

gregssmirkingrevenge

Yea ok cougie- i'm not trying to write his training regimen or anything, and i'm sure team culumbia know best but i'm just saying; as a laymen- what kind of training is he havning to do this week that could not been gained from this last week of racing in Italy?

He's obviously the fastest man out there when conditions are right, I'd have thought that if anything, he needed to work on his stamina and climbing. What does completing a grand tour give you? Stamina- bing! Climbing practice- Bing!

We know he's fast enough, but to get a jersey you've got to finish the race- so lets practice finishing some long races.

Seriously though- what is he doing over the next weeks? With Boonen and Pettachi not featuring, he's a stick on for the green jersey in France anyway.

frenchfighter

Kleber has it right. He is young and for a sprinter to complete the Giro then go on and do the Tour and win a handful of early stages. Maybe when he is 30 and doing the same thing then you might have a point.

I think Cavendish is a supreme rider and I even think he is a decent bloke. In addition, I agree with 'peanut': why do some of you love to hate him when he is the most successful English rider for a long time and he is only starting his career. It is not like we have 50 great riders to choose from is it.

In any case, I am sure all the other sprinters are delighted...maybe he was demonstrating good character and being generous by withdrawing 8)

King Cannonball Cav:

afx237vi

<pedant>

Cav is not English.

</pedant>

frenchfighter

Ok ,ok, representing GB then!

peanut

dulldave wrote:

peanut wrote:

dulldave wrote:

Wind yer neck in Peanut. He asked for your opinion not for you to ridicule his.

he asked for my opinion and he got it. Fed up with people sitting on their butts and knocking British achievers in sport and business.

He asked for your opinion about Cavendish pulling out. Not for your opinion of him having a very reasoned and understandable opinion of his own.

Even though I don't agree with him.

fair enuf dave so why didn't he just ask for people's opinions on the reasons why cav might have pulled out of the Giro ? Could have made an interesting debate instead of the usual slanging match we get whenever anybody mentions Cav or lance etc

markos1963

Cav's the best rider we've had for ages, he's only just starting his career and I think its right his team is protecting him from overexposure in the big tours. No I don't think its disrespectful to the Giro or any other event if he pulls out, plenty of other riders climb off for less reasons and we don't go on about it. I think he has the potential to develop in to a Giro or Tour winner( not just the points winner either)

andyp

How many races has he ridden this year? From memory he rode;

The Tour of Qatar
The Tour of California
Tirreno-Adriatico
Milan-San Remo
Three Days of de Panne
Gent-Wevelgem
Tour of Romandie
The Giro

That's 40 plus days of racing and it's not the end of May yet. For a 24 year old third year pro that's a fairly heavy schedule.

Tom Butcher

It's not disrespectful - but neither was Garmin Slipstream targeting the team time trial.

Teams are going to look at the stages on offer and work out what they can win - if the Giro organisers had a problem with sprinters or with teams that target time trials then they can tailor the stages to suit the kind of racing they want. Starting most major stage races with a series of flatish stages (I know this Giro was a bit different) is an invitation to the major sprinters to turn up and go head to head for the first week.

Moomaloid

Always makes me laugh when someone comes out with this drivel...

Pro Cycling is a business. Maximizing his potential to win stages in the TDF is the prime target of the year, WHY would he try and drag himself over more mountain passes and ruin his form by tiring himself out.

This is nothing new, it has always happened. At least he races, some tour favourites would hardly race all year, just to be in contention at the Tour.

Mark Cavendish is best thing that has happened to British Cycling in a very long time. He can do whatever he wants as far as i'm concerned

nick hanson

Moomaloid wrote:

Always makes me laugh when someone comes out with this drivel...

Pro Cycling is a business. Maximizing his potential to win stages in the TDF is the prime target of the year, WHY would he try and drag himself over more mountain passes and ruin his form by tiring himself out.

This is nothing new, it has always happened. At least he races, some tour favourites would hardly race all year, just to be in contention at the Tour.

Mark Cavendish is best thing that has happened to British Cycling in a very long time. He can do whatever he wants as far as i'm concerned

My thoughts exactly.Cav's team pay his wages,he got pulled by his team,end of.
Also,if he rests up a bit,& hits the TDF on form,& wins some stages,it can only increase his market value.I'm damn sure you'd do the same?

teagar

Garry H wrote:

teagar wrote:

It's not quite right. It wasn't really about respect. Cipo's team wasn't invited because the rest of the team was completely useless, so that when he did retire, which he would, the Tour would be left with a rubbish team that wouldn't do anything. Hence Lefevre inviting another team, which ended up winning a stage.

Thought it was Leblanc that invited the other team?

Ah I'm dyslexic.