Cav rumours

dulldave

A lot of talk on Twitter about rumours of Cav moving from HTC. Anyone got any detail?

andrewjoseph

He's going to be the lead out man for Griepel.

lostboysaint

andrewjoseph wrote:

He's going to be the lead out man for Griepel.

iainf72

I've not seen anything? and I try to be observant.

peterst6906

Rumours about rumours.... :roll:

If my work is anything to go by it could well be true since all decisions of management first begin as a rumour amongst the staff...

Maybe he's going to follow Renshaw, who is rumoured (just started here) to be moving to GreenEdge.

Kléber

There's talk that Cuddly Bob isn't so cuddly when it comes to negotiating a contract, I think I've read that he won't give Cav a new deal.

Sky looks like a good bet but I'd imagine many teams would be interested to make a big offer for him and a couple of his trusted leadout riders.

calvjones

Kléber wrote:

There's talk that Cuddly Bob isn't so cuddly when it comes to negotiating a contract, I think I've read that he won't give Cav a new deal.

Sky looks like a good bet but I'd imagine many teams would be interested to make a big offer for him and a couple of his trusted leadout riders.

Gossy for the green jersey then? Get your bets in now.

rebs

If Goss keeps banging out results like he has so far and Cav fails for any stage wins in T-A and due to leave end of the year. Might not be so supraising that Goss could be HTC's man for the TDF?

Kléber

New Aussie team Greenedge want Goss:
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/7722/ ... ccess.aspx

Gazzaputt

Cannot see anything but Cav in a Sky jersey for 2012.

inkyfingers

rebs wrote:

If Goss keeps banging out results like he has so far and Cav fails for any stage wins in T-A and due to leave end of the year. Might not be so supraising that Goss could be HTC's man for the TDF?

Cav would need to suffer an injury or a serious loss of form come July for that to happen. Goss is a great rider and is getting good results, but Cav has won 23 GT stages in the last 3 years (by my quick count) so the team would be mad to not ride for him if he's in shape. Whether Cav gets any wins in TA is pretty irrelevant in my opinion.

I read that Cav will be riding all three GTs this year, so maybe in the Giro or Vuelta the team might ride for Goss if Cav uses it just for race miles.

cal_stewart

cav to sky and i didn't think he needs to bring any leadout men. sky prob 3rd best leadout behind htc and garmin

iainf72

Cal_Stewart wrote:

cav to sky and i didn't think he needs to bring any leadout men. sky prob 3rd best leadout behind htc and garmin

I expect if Cavendish goes to Sky they'll have an exodus of some of the other riders.

LangerDan

iainf72 wrote:

Cal_Stewart wrote:

cav to sky and i didn't think he needs to bring any leadout men. sky prob 3rd best leadout behind htc and garmin

I expect if Cavendish goes to Sky they'll have an exodus of some of the other riders.

.. which, given the crowded market, Cuddly Bob will pick up for less than Cav is demanding to stay.

iainf72

If Big George rides in 2012, he'll go to BMC. Big $ bills y'all AND he's still got a lot to learn from George. For example, having a page 3 girlfriend is ok and everything, but it pales next to having a classy looking French podium babe on your arm.

Karl2010

If he does move i hope its to Sky, and Renshaw goes with him.

prawny

I don't really mind where he is, although I'd be a bit disappointed if he went to somewhere like Movistar.

However, I doubt very much he cares what I think (before Dennis says it)

pedro118118

For me, he's a shoe-in for Sky in 2012. Which I'm sure will please Lovqvist and EBH no end, as they couldn't get away from Cav's HTC train quick enough!

Cav certainly needs to improve on today's performance at TA - he looked like he was dragging a tractor tyre - didn't even get out of the saddle!

Tusher

Mmmmm, surely if he was having difficulties with Cuddly Bob, he'd be wanting to win as much as he could to 'put his price up'.

I think he's just not 100%, that's all.

dougzz

Tusher wrote:

Mmmmm, surely if he was having difficulties with Cuddly Bob, he'd be wanting to win as much as he could to 'put his price up'.

I think he's just not 100%, that's all.

I thought he only went 100% on the final day of Le Tour, the rest of time it's just 80%, maybe 90%, that's all he needs isn't it?

Yellow Peril

I'm going to play Devil's avocado and plump for him moving to BMC

prawny

Tusher wrote:

Mmmmm, surely if he was having difficulties with Cuddly Bob, he'd be wanting to win as much as he could to 'put his price up'.

I think he's just not 100%, that's all.

A green jersey would put his price up. And his prep is going better than last year.

I don't think he'll move though, he's the Wayne Rooney of cycling

mrushton

Inner Ring recently intimated it would be BMC. Hinchapie is there and they have riders like Ballan and Evans and Rhis has deep pockets.

TMR

I don't mind where he goes as long as Renshaw goes with him.

If Renshaw stays with HTC then I can see Goss becoming #1 sprinter, and Mark will struggle for wins.

inkyfingers

The Mad Rapper wrote:

I don't mind where he goes as long as Renshaw goes with him.

If Renshaw stays with HTC then I can see Goss becoming #1 sprinter, and Mark will struggle for wins.

There seems to be a lot of Goss hype at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a top sprinter and is going to have a great career, but Cav's palmares shows that he has been the worlds top sprinter for the last 3 years so let's wait and see what happens during the main parts of his season before we call time on Cav's dominance.

andyp

The ability to perform a good leadout isn't that unique a skill. The larger problem is finding a decent sprinter who is prepared to suppress their own ambitions to take on that role.

Anyway, Cavendish has already shown that he can win races without Renshaw.

iainf72

inkyfingers wrote:

There seems to be a lot of Goss hype at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a top sprinter and is going to have a great career, but Cav's palmares shows that he has been the worlds top sprinter for the last 3 years so let's wait and see what happens during the main parts of his season before we call time on Cav's dominance.

Sprinters are funny creatures. Quite often we've seen a period of utter domination and then they kind of slack off a bit / don't win as much. Still win but don't get the vast number of victories they used to.

One guy dominating is bad for the sport though. Sprints are boring enough with being able to call the winner accurately every time.

inkyfingers

I agree, but my point was that we can't write Cav off quite yet.

It's definitely good for the sport and good for the viewers if there are 4-5 guys who can win in the big sprints. Come the tour we will hopefully have at least a 3 way split between Farrar, Greipel & Cav.

TMR

inkyfingers wrote:

It's definitely good for the sport and good for the viewers if there are 4-5 guys who can win in the big sprints. Come the tour we will hopefully have at least a 3 way split between Farrar, Greipel & Cav.

Farrar isn't the same class as Mark. I've not seen Mark and Greipel go head to head, so I'll reserve judgement on that.

TMR

andyp wrote:

The ability to perform a good leadout isn't that unique a skill. The larger problem is finding a decent sprinter who is prepared to suppress their own ambitions to take on that role.

That's true, but Renshaw and Cavendish have great instinct as a final two. Any new leadout partner will take time to gel with.

Anyway, Cavendish has already shown that he can win races without Renshaw.

He can, but he was still delivered by his team. How does the BMC train compare to the HTC train?

dougzz

OK, I stand to be shot down by the Stato's among us, but hasn't Can in the last 3 years always been less than devastating in the shi.... sorry smaller races. He's clearly motivated by the TdF, and then the other two GTs with little absolute desire for the lesser events.

MSR will be a better guide to his real level.