Cavendish

dougzz

Tell me you didn't feel a real rush yesterday, the side on shot showing Pettacchi and Hushovd battling, and then Cav just blowing by on the outside, as if they were barely trying. It was an awesome display, you might call him a one trick pony, but what a trick.

oscarbudgie

Kléber wrote:

I think Farrar is less of a sprinter and more of a classics rider .

Tyler Farrar is sprinter with Team Garmin Transitions. He needs perfect vision throughout the race...

jamlala

dougzz wrote:

Tell me you didn't feel a real rush yesterday, the side on shot showing Pettacchi and Hushovd battling, and then Cav just blowing by on the outside, as if they were barely trying. It was an awesome display, you might call him a one trick pony, but what a trick.

It was awesome, hairs on the back of your neck standing up stuff. He totally steamrollered them. There is nothing more exciting to me that the last 5km of a sprint finish, the speed these guys ride is breathtaking.

Kléber

oscarbudgie wrote:

Kléber wrote:

I think Farrar is less of a sprinter and more of a classics rider .

Tyler Farrar is sprinter with Team Garmin Transitions. He needs perfect vision throughout the race...

Yes but he could make the transition to a classics winner. It would be eye-opening, Cavendish is going to leave him in the dark for years to come.

Jokes aside, I wonder how Farrar would have got on. After all if Julian Dean was up there, Farrar might have been in the mix too.

graeme_s-2

That final kick on the Champs-Elysees was absolutely magic. My wife and I were both literally saying aloud "Where is he? Where is he?" when he blew through the back of the shot at blink-and-you'll-miss-it speed! He looked like he'd just been fired out of a cannon, he was moving so quickly compared to Thor and Pettacchi.

I said during the Tour last year that Cav would have won almost as many stages (though maybe not by such a margin) without Renshaw and such a well drilled lead out team, and I think he's proved it this year. When his contract is due, surely every team in the peloton will want to sign him. Even a team with serious GC ambitions could leave him to get on with it and pick up a few stage wins for extra publicity.

FJS

Graeme_S wrote:

Even a team with serious GC ambitions could leave him to get on with it and pick up a few stage wins for extra publicity.

Not so sure about that. As long as Cavendish is so dominant in the sprints, it will be mostly up to the team he rides for to work all day to chase break-aways. Just look at Friday's stage, HTC working more or less from the start, and if Lampre would not have needed the points for Petacchi to pass Hushovd in green, it would have been up to HTC alone. A GC-focused team won't want to do that.

ratsbeyfus

plumpy wrote:

I
Seen again, that side-angle shot at about 400m is almost comical, it'll be on "What happened next?" in few years' time. "And now Thor Hushovd checks that his wicker basket is firmly attached...gives a little ding on his bell to alert any pedestrians...and presses down sharply on the pedals...surely he has this race in the ba...."

That's fantastic - we've found the heir to Ligget's throne!

xraymtb

The fact he can perform like that after three weeks of riding is what astounds me. He is a great sprinter but to still have the legs after this tour was doubly impressive.

And he did it last year on the Champs Elysees as well.

fiftyacorns

I think Cav's done great - proven everyone wrong who wrote him off at the start of the tour by winning 5 stages - excellent! I thought his wins after Renshaw was thrown out were among his best too

I'll be watching with interest how the Petacchi allegations progress too

mroli

every finish that involves a sprint ought to have a facility whereby you can get that side on motorcycle shot. It was awesome, you really got a feel for the speed that you don't get from the overview and whilst in say football or rugby I hate the close ups, watching Pettachi go and then Cav rocket was an amazing piece of footage....

Le Commentateur

Doobz wrote:

lol.. oh dear

Surely not a Trekie reference?!

greasedscotsman

Kléber wrote:

As for Cavendish, he really is exceptional and of all the riders in the Tour, he was probably the best rider in terms of achievement and domination. Yes Contador was good but had moments of weakness. Cancellara "only" won on Saturday by nine seconds.

So crashing on stage 1 and finishing 12th on stage 4 weren't moments of weakness?

ju5t1n

is that sprint online anywhere? ...I can't find it on YouTube

mrushton

Crash you can't do anything about and if you can't sprint there is no point in trying - ask Armstrong on that stage over the Tourmalet or other sprinters. You've either a chance or you haven't

desweller

ju5t1n wrote:

is that sprint online anywhere? ...I can't find it on YouTube

http://tv.eurosport.ro/cycling/tour-de-france/2010/tv-videos_vid143358.shtml

Gingerflash

I can apprciate that the sprint is an incredible athletic effort, dangerous and there's a lot of teamwork, tactics and preparation involved. I also see that Cav is the best in the world.

However, am I the only person who finds sprints a bit dull? I'm always disappointed when a race or stage comes down to a mass sprint and really couldn't care less who wins.

Someone above compared Cav to Lineker - a good finisher. I realise it's a lot more involved than that, but it does seem a little like goal-hanging.

The out and out sprinters are some of the slowest riders in the peloton over the difficult terrain, get helped along by their team-mates and, because they're fastest over the last few hundred metres, get all the glory.

Sprinting is incredibly fast and dangerous, but I find myself much less impressed by it than by say Cancellara at Flanders and Roubaix, or the climbers in the high mountains.

Dgh

Hats off to Cav. He doesn't always seem the most likeable of blokes, but this tour we saw a guy to whom winning means something, and properly acknowledging his team colleagues.

Having said that, I think Cav really ought to target the green jersey properly next year. He could have won it his year if he hadn;t sat up n one of the early sprints. He's clearly the fastest man around, and can last a 3 week tour in good shape.

He could easily end up beating Merckx's record for tour stages, notching up a few more Milan-Sanremos (and possibly a Paris Roubaix or two), a few green jerseys and a couple of rainbow ones (this year's course and next are both sprinters' courses, no?) That would be a palmares few could match.

Hinault has compared him to Freddy Maertens. Hope that's only true on the bike.

Le Commentateur

Typically double-edged compliment from Hinault, since Maerten's glory years were short.

fast as fupp

[
However, am I the only person who finds sprints a bit dull? I'm always disappointed when a race or stage comes down to a mass sprint and really couldn't care less who wins.

yes, you probably are.

msw

johnfinch wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

knedlicky wrote:

He gets the credit he legitimately warrants (and I think legitimately a lot of it) - a very good sprinter over the final 300 metres.
But there is nothing else (cycling-wise) he does to give him credit for,

Apart from his Milan San Remo win and his amazing ability to rack up GT stage wins you might have a point there.

And two World Championship Madison gold medals. Otherwise a vastly over-rated rider.

Fixed that for you!

stagehopper

Le Commentateur wrote:

Typically double-edged compliment from Hinault, since Maerten's glory years were short.

I think most cyclists would take 8 years at the very top of the sport.

samiam

Gingerflash wrote:

However, am I the only person who finds sprints a bit dull? I'm always disappointed when a race or stage comes down to a mass sprint and really couldn't care less who wins.

Someone above compared Cav to Lineker - a good finisher. I realise it's a lot more involved than that, but it does seem a little like goal-hanging.

I think you find it boring because you don't understand/appreciate the huge amount of technique across a team required to launch and plan to launch a final sprint. That coupled with competing teams blocking/position technicalities and of course the PURE power generated by the winner equals an incredible marvel really.

It's just like watching a long climb with attacks, but the action takes place in a much more condensed sequence.

Sprints are like a fine wine, you have to really understand what goes into them to appreciate them. But when you see it all - it's magnificent.

Barney 2

Cavendish for BBC Sports Personality of the Year!

Hardly got a mention last year! It would help put cycling on the map and he is a true personality, like him or loath him, un-like sone top sportsman who are just full of PR talk.

inseine

However, am I the only person who finds sprints a bit dull?

Probably.

Le Commentateur

1975-78 were the years when he dominated the big stage race sprints, with a final burst on the banjo in 1981.

moray_gub

mrushton wrote:

Moray Gub wrote:

knedlicky wrote:

He gets the credit he legitimately warrants (and I think legitimately a lot of it) - a very good sprinter over the final 300 metres.
But there is nothing else (cycling-wise) he does to give him credit for,

Apart from his Milan San Remo win and his amazing ability to rack up GT stage wins you might have a point there.

Damned with faint praise or what?

Pross

I can understand people finding stages that end in a sprint a bit dull but not the sprint itself. Even the stage as a whole can be a nail biter sometimes though, for example yesterday I thought they'd let the break get too much. For some reason, possibly due to it being a short lap, 30 seconds seemed a much bigger gap than it would be with 8km to go on a normal stage.

ratsbeyfus

mroli wrote:

every finish that involves a sprint ought to have a facility whereby you can get that side on motorcycle shot. It was awesome, you really got a feel for the speed that you don't get from the overview and whilst in say football or rugby I hate the close ups, watching Pettachi go and then Cav rocket was an amazing piece of footage....

I agree... I loved the side on shots of the sprint. It'll be great if they get minicams attached to the bikes for some images of what it's like from the rider's perspective. Although there'd be a weight gain there'd be huge benefits for the sponsors. HTC-Columbia were riding with mobiles strapped to their seats to keep their sponsors happy... perhaps Sky could have a 'Bradley-cam' next year.

Tom BB

ratsbeyfus wrote:

mroli wrote:

perhaps Sky could have a 'Bradley-cam' next year.

The view of shattered dreams! Still, be good to see what goes on in the 'grupetto'!

tomb8555

ratsbeyfus wrote:

I agree... I loved the side on shots of the sprint. It'll be great if they get minicams attached to the bikes for some images of what it's like from the rider's perspective. Although there'd be a weight gain there'd be huge benefits for the sponsors. HTC-Columbia were riding with mobiles strapped to their seats to keep their sponsors happy... perhaps Sky could have a 'Bradley-cam' next year.

To be honest, I'm not that interested to see an inside view of the autobus.