Cav "Going for Green"

paulcuthbert

Cav is aiming for the Green Jersey at this year's Tour. Well, it was only a matter of time wasn't it...

Story here: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,15264_5855239,00.html

Do you think he can do it? Or will dodgy referees decisions hamper him again???

The Prodigy

Despite his protests before the race began, he certainly had and eye and a half on that Green jersey.

I think he can do it for sure but may need to start to compete in a few intermediates.

He is still going to be the man for the bunch sprint but he could have to show a few more qualities to nick the Green jersey.

Another thing he could have done with last year was more people in the fight for the jersey, it was pretty much between him and Thor all the way, which would benefit Thor more than him.

disgruntledgoat

Best moment of last years Tour for me was Hushovd's attack in the Alps to pick up intermediate points. In particular, the grabbing at his green jersey yelling "i'm taking this to Paris" when he got the second one.

dulldave

paulcuthbert wrote:

Cav is aiming for the Green Jersey at this year's Tour. Well, it was only a matter of time wasn't it...

Story here: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,15264_5855239,00.html

Do you think he can do it? Or will dodgy referees decisions hamper him again???

He was going for green last year, so this isn't a surprise. The only decision that was dodgy was the penalty for Cav's infraction.

lucybears

dulldave wrote:

paulcuthbert wrote:

Cav is aiming for the Green Jersey at this year's Tour. Well, it was only a matter of time wasn't it...

Story here: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,15264_5855239,00.html


Do you think he can do it? Or will dodgy referees decisions hamper him again???

He was going for green last year, so this isn't a surprise. The only decision that was dodgy was the penalty for Cav's infraction.

He was not deliberately targeting green last year - he was going for stage wins and said that if he got green, then so be it. This year, it's Hushovd who says he is not deliberately going for green.

pedro118118

Whatever he says post event, Cav was clearly going for the green jersey last year, but his strategy of focussing exclusively on stage wins didn't pay off. Of course, the DQ didn't help either. If he wasn't focussing on the green jersey in 09, then why the hell did he bring such a ridiculous array of green accessories - helmet, shoes, socks, glasses, gloves etc. And his helmet wasn't even the same shade of green!

calvjones

Good interview. However;

'Still seething, almost six months later, from the controversial disqualification in Besançon that handed Hushovd a winning margin'

they forgot to add 'which Hushovd added handsomely to later thus making the DQ largely irrelevant''

dulldave

lucybears wrote:

He was not deliberately targeting green last year - he was going for stage wins and said that if he got green, then so be it. This year, it's Hushovd who says he is not deliberately going for green.

No that's what he said. There was clear effort to win green, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered his arse sprinting for the line in stages he didn't win (the non-flat ones).

calvjones

Just looking at the team list; they really are a second string team now, apart from the sprints aren't they?

I suppose Monfort and Eisel are OK, and Martin may develop and will win some TTs, but the lack of a real GT or hilly Classics contender may well turn out to be a mistake if Cav breaks a collarbone at the Giro, or catches Epstein Barr at the dinner table...

lucybears

What are your real goals in this Tour de France?
"The number of victory is obviously begging. In view of Green Jersey's gain also, but the Tour de France and we must sometimes just a single victory. The aim is to arrive in Paris, my job is to win sprints. If I come to Paris in green, because I am with my race, it will be a dream, but it is not the goal. "

http://www.velo101.com/actualite/defaul ... on=Elites1

avoidingmyphd

calvjones wrote:

Good interview. However;

'Still seething, almost six months later, from the controversial disqualification in Besançon that handed Hushovd a winning margin'

they forgot to add 'which Hushovd added handsomely to later thus making the DQ largely irrelevant''

DQ cost Cav 14 points. Thor won the Green by 10. So the DQ was not "largely irrelevant". It was decisive.

calvjones

avoidingmyphd wrote:

calvjones wrote:

Good interview. However;

'Still seething, almost six months later, from the controversial disqualification in Besançon that handed Hushovd a winning margin'

they forgot to add 'which Hushovd added handsomely to later thus making the DQ largely irrelevant''

DQ cost Cav 14 points. Thor won the Green by 10. So the DQ was not "largely irrelevant". It was decisive.

Really? My bad. Although I suppose this was due to the crash on the Champs.

dulldave

lucybears wrote:

What are your real goals in this Tour de France?
"The number of victory is obviously begging. In view of Green Jersey's gain also, but the Tour de France and we must sometimes just a single victory. The aim is to arrive in Paris, my job is to win sprints. If I come to Paris in green, because I am with my race, it will be a dream, but it is not the goal. "

http://www.velo101.com/actualite/defaul ... on=Elites1

Yes, this is what he said. But what he said does not necessarily equate to the truth. He said he was doing Milan San Remo for the practice. He'd deliberately been climbing like a sack of tatties in events running up to it so that everyone thought he wouldn't get over the climbs. Of course he then won it.

There's sometimes a difference between what he says he's doing and what he's actually doing. I'd expect to see him approach the green jersey in exactly the way he did last year. He can't pretend it'd be a 'nice to have' this year so he isn't bothering to try.

NervexProf

Cav will go at 85% - not 80%

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... rance.html

No Olympic track ride in 2012.

Seems determined - and gets strong words of praise from Zabel too.

teagar

lucybears wrote:

He was not deliberately targeting green last year - he was going for stage wins and said that if he got green, then so be it. This year, it's Hushovd who says he is not deliberately going for green.

Really?

lucybears

dulldave wrote:

lucybears wrote:

What are your real goals in this Tour de France?
"The number of victory is obviously begging. In view of Green Jersey's gain also, but the Tour de France and we must sometimes just a single victory. The aim is to arrive in Paris, my job is to win sprints. If I come to Paris in green, because I am with my race, it will be a dream, but it is not the goal. "

http://www.velo101.com/actualite/defaul ... on=Elites1

There's sometimes a difference between what he says he's doing and what he's actually doing. I'd expect to see him approach the green jersey in exactly the way he did last year. He can't pretend it'd be a 'nice to have' this year so he isn't bothering to try.

No he will not approach the green jersey "exactly the way"
Last year you did not see him contest the intermediate sprints, and he had said before the race that he would not. This year, he has already acknowledged that to win green he may have to do so

pedro118118

What Cav says in the press and what represents the truth are two very different things!

Back to basics: -

The green jersey is awarded to the rider who accumultes the greatest number of points during the Tour. Points are awarded at the finish line and at intermediate spots during stages.

Therefore, the competition rewards speed, consistency and versatility. It is not a jersey, which is exclusively awared to the fastest finisher in the last 250m of flat stages. If it was, then Cav would clearly win it hands down.

Zabel won a jersey without winning a single stage one year and was never a prolific multi-stage winner year-on-year.

Cav is certainly the fastest at the finish, but has some work to do tactically if the green jersey is a big goal.

calvjones

pedro118118 wrote:

What Cav says in the press and what represents the truth are two very different things!

Back to basics: -

The green jersey is awarded to the rider who accumultes the greatest number of points during the Tour. Points are awarded at the finish line and at intermediate spots during stages.

Therefore, the competition rewards speed, consistency and versatility. It is not a jersey, which is exclusively awared to the fastest finisher in the last 250m of flat stages. If it was, then Cav would clearly win it hands down.

Zabel won a jersey without winning a single stage one year and was never a prolific multi-stage winner year-on-year.

Cav is certainly the fastest at the finish, but has some work to do tactically if the green jersey is a big goal.

true, but with Cav the fastest and Greipel picking up many points by continuing to sprint after Cav has left his wheel (or chipping off with Thor & contesting the sprints when he makes his Coppi-esque Alpine attacks), surely he has to be odds on?

lucybears

teagar wrote:

lucybears wrote:

He was not deliberately targeting green last year - he was going for stage wins and said that if he got green, then so be it. This year, it's Hushovd who says he is not deliberately going for green.

Really?

"I'm not sure if I will ride in the Tour de France next year," said Hushovd. "I have other goals that are starting to become more important than a third green jersey in the Tour. To win the spring Classics and the World Championships is more tempting."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hushovd ... le-in-2010

teagar

lucybears wrote:

teagar wrote:

lucybears wrote:

He was not deliberately targeting green last year - he was going for stage wins and said that if he got green, then so be it. This year, it's Hushovd who says he is not deliberately going for green.

Really?

"I'm not sure if I will ride in the Tour de France next year," said Hushovd. "I have other goals that are starting to become more important than a third green jersey in the Tour. To win the spring Classics and the World Championships is more tempting."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hushovd ... le-in-2010

:roll: I figured the picture of Cavendish would be a big enough clue to suggest I was contesting your comment on Cavendish aiming for green last year. Apparently not.

lucybears

teagar wrote:

:roll: I figured the picture of Cavendish would be a big enough clue to suggest I was contesting your comment on Cavendish aiming for green last year. Apparently not.

:roll:
you mean like Pedro
"If he wasn't focussing on the green jersey in 09, then why the hell did he bring such a ridiculous array of green accessories - helmet, shoes, socks, glasses, gloves etc. And his helmet wasn't even the same shade of green!"

Because he knew that even if he did not get the green jersey in Paris he would certainly be riding in green in several stages of the Tour

teagar

lucybears wrote:

teagar wrote:

:roll: I figured the picture of Cavendish would be a big enough clue to suggest I was contesting your comment on Cavendish aiming for green last year. Apparently not.

:roll:
you mean like Pedro
"If he wasn't focussing on the green jersey in 09, then why the hell did he bring such a ridiculous array of green accessories - helmet, shoes, socks, glasses, gloves etc. And his helmet wasn't even the same shade of green!"

Because he knew that even if he did not get the green jersey in Paris he would certainly be riding in green in several stages of the Tour

When asked about said celebration:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... green.html

pedro118118

The message in the celebration was clear to anyone watching: -

1. This is so easy for me; and
2. Regaining the green jersey is a foregone conclusion.

Some may call it confidence, focus or self-belief.
Some may call it disrepectful, cocky, arrogant.

But that's what you get with Cav.

lucybears

teagar wrote:

lucybears wrote:

teagar wrote:

:roll: I figured the picture of Cavendish would be a big enough clue to suggest I was contesting your comment on Cavendish aiming for green last year. Apparently not.

:roll:
you mean like Pedro
"If he wasn't focussing on the green jersey in 09, then why the hell did he bring such a ridiculous array of green accessories - helmet, shoes, socks, glasses, gloves etc. And his helmet wasn't even the same shade of green!"

Because he knew that even if he did not get the green jersey in Paris he would certainly be riding in green in several stages of the Tour

When asked about said celebration:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... green.html

So AFTER STAGE 12

“Ok I'm eating my words because I said I wasn't targeting but I've changed my mind. We went for the intermediate sprint and tried to get some points at the end.”

“If you notice I said all along I wasn't going for it but NOW I am"

That just PROVES he was targetting green all along !

pedro118118

As in any walk of life, it's easier to under-promise and over-deliver than over-promise and under-deliver. He (and his team) are merely managing the expectations of sponsors, fans etc.

He wants green jersey big time, but doesn't want to be labelled a failiure if he doesn't win it.

lucybears

pedro118118 wrote:

He wants green jersey big time, but doesn't want to be labelled a failiure if he doesn't win it.

So that is why he has "under-promised"

"But this year if I don't win it, it will be a failure."

"From now on until I retire, in the Tour the green jersey will always be my biggest aim.

"There's no way I'm changing that target."

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/ ... ndish.html

pedro118118

I would like him to win. I hope he does and I'll be supporting him and the other British riders thoughout the season.

I would also like him to display a little more honesty, integrity and humility, but then again, you can't have everything in life.

Eau Rouge

I think Cav lost the green jersey in Barcelona more than the DQ or Thor's ride in the mountains.
OK it was wet, and not overly flat, but it was a bunch finish never the less. Thor won, Cav came way down in 16th. That was a 25pt advantage to Thor.

frenchfighter

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Best moment of last years Tour for me was Hushovd's attack in the Alps to pick up intermediate points. In particular, the grabbing at his green jersey yelling "i'm taking this to Paris" when he got the second one.

Brilliant ride.

The bike is beautiful with the green.

paulcuthbert

I think Cav was going for Green last year too- but I also think he was more concentrated on finishing the Tour for the first time, just to get a full Tour under his legs. I think once he's done that, it's going to know what it takes to both complete a Tour and take the Green.

thamacdaddy

I think you are all missing a trick here.

When he says he is defo going for green this year what he means is HTC are.

As put in the guardian report:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/ja ... -de-france

But if Cavendish's own approach remains unchanged, fortified by the memory not just of his Tour stage wins but of other victories last year, including the Milan-San Remo classic and four stages of the Giro d'Italia, that of those around him will be modified to help him reach his goal. At the end of last year's Tour, Zabel discussed it with the team's management.

"I told them, 'Our biggest chance to get on the podium in Paris is not in the general classification but with Mark in the green jersey,'" he said yesterday. "So for 2010 let's give up our other ambitions and put all our energy into it." As a result André Greipel, the team's other star sprinter, will be asked to work for Cavendish in the lead-out train, while team-mates who would normally be expected to contend for the general classification, such as the brilliant young German rider Tony Martin, will be expected to nullify the efforts of other green-jersey contenders to compile valuable points from intermediate sprints in the mountain stages, where Cavendish cannot compete.

So what he means is even though he thought he could do it with only sprints last year it was clear he couldn't and can't this year unless someone/team prevents people like hushovd and possibly others such as b-hagen from collecting intermediates.

Important to note renshaw is out at the mo and probably won't be on form by TdF hence griepel (I know he is faster anyways) which I can't see a lasting peace as he is too proud for that....could be some issues there come TdF time. Remember they also have the velits brothers now and peter was up there with thor and cav at last years TdF in some of the final sprints, clear that the lead out now has a few more actual sprinters in it.