Greipel relegated to Cav's lead out train?

Tusher
Tusher Posts: 2,762
edited January 2010 in Pro race
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/greipel ... -de-france


Although I do hide it very well, a couple of you may have guessed that I am a huge fan of Mr Cavendish (although I'd still like to slap him for leaving Melissa to jump into bed with The Strumpet) but I feel terribly sorry for Andre Greipel in this situation.

It's just pre-presentation talk at present of course, but unless Columbia are going to broker a deal between the two of them, whereby Greipel gets the stage wins whilst Cav is left to focus on the intermediate sprints, I just can't see why the world's second best sprinter will want to stay at Columbia next year.

Granted, by being part of the train, it's probably the only way he's going to see much of France in July. And I suppose it may sweeten the other teams who have absolutely zero interest in helping Columbia chase in the final kilometres if Cav always wins.

Comments

  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    he'll get full support in La Vuelta and Giro I guess. And if he jumped ship he probably wouldn't beat Cav anyway, so maybe losing less than you think. I could see Cav victim him a stage if green was wrapped up early.
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    Victim him a stage? Damn that iPhone autocorrect!
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • Tusher
    Tusher Posts: 2,762
    I kinda like that phrase though.
    " Help me and I'll victim you a stage, Andre. " Yes, Maybe. Perhaps. Possibly.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    He knows which side his bread is buttered. Greipel still managed to rack up a massive amount of wins last year, so he could do the same, only this time he can also curry favour with Cav and probably add to his salary. Columbia have the best lead out train around and the German will have this to his own in many races.

    Look what Ciolek did in 2009 after he left.
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    Greipel is biding his time before moneybags Sky come and innevitably poach Cav at the end of the 2010 season. Simples. In the meantime, he'll be the number one sprinter at the Giro and/or Vuelta.
  • markwalker
    markwalker Posts: 953
    calvjones wrote:
    Victim him a stage? Damn that iPhone autocorrect!

    Dam that iphone causing me to show off :)

    only jealous
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Depends on whether he's motivated by money or his palmares - if he sticks with Columbia, he'll reap the reward from all the stage-win bonuses which are shared throughout the team whereas if he goes elsewhere he'll end up like Ciolek with far fewer wins and even fewer shared win bonuses. Obviously, if Cav moves to Sky at the end of the contract, he'll benefit from a well-tuned lead-out train too.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    markwalker wrote:
    calvjones wrote:
    Victim him a stage? Damn that iPhone autocorrect!

    Dam that iphone causing me to show off :)

    only jealous

    OT: Busted :D although its a very old one bought from ebay. Bloody marvellous, and easily worth the Apple Fanboy tattoo it effectively places on your right hand...
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • terongi
    terongi Posts: 318
    calvjones wrote:
    markwalker wrote:
    calvjones wrote:
    Victim him a stage? Damn that iPhone autocorrect!

    Dam that iphone causing me to show off :)

    only jealous

    OT: Busted :D although its a very old one bought from ebay. Bloody marvellous, and easily worth the Apple Fanboy tattoo it effectively places on your right hand...

    Phew. Lucky you said that. Otherwise we might have thought that you were wealthy and that would have been awful.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    Kléber wrote:
    He knows which side his bread is buttered. Greipel still managed to rack up a massive amount of wins last year, so he could do the same, only this time he can also curry favour with Cav and probably add to his salary. Columbia have the best lead out train around and the German will have this to his own in many races.

    Look what Ciolek did in 2009 after he left.

    Exactly.

    Cavendish, injury aside, has all the flat sprint finishes sown up anyway. He hasn't lost a flat sprint he's properly contestested since 2007 if i remember right...

    And if he is injured, why not have access to his train?
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    terongi wrote:
    calvjones wrote:
    markwalker wrote:
    calvjones wrote:
    Victim him a stage? Damn that iPhone autocorrect!

    Dam that iphone causing me to show off :)

    only jealous

    OT: Busted :D although its a very old one bought from ebay. Bloody marvellous, and easily worth the Apple Fanboy tattoo it effectively places on your right hand...

    Phew. Lucky you said that. Otherwise we might have thought that you were wealthy and that would have been awful.

    Stinkin'. Just don't tell Mrs calvjones...
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    Cav has been dominent, but was beaten by Petachi (Giro) and Farrar (Tirreno) last year. Of the Tour stages he genuinely contested, he was well down at Barcelona, but I suppose it was an uphill drag and therefore not suited to him.

    It's a bit of a shame that one team accommodates the two of them - as a fan, you like to see the best riders competing against one another.

    It's a similar thing with Postal/Discovery/Astana/Shack - they have 3/4 riders there, who are well equipped to challenge on the GC at the Tour (LA, Leipheimer, Kloden, Zubeldia), but they'll all be working for the Texan. Which is a bit of a shame.

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