Cippo calls Cav fat...bin Laden still dead

RichN95.

ballspondroad wrote:

Plus the camera always adds 10 pounds.

And there are usually two or three cameras on Cav.

bigmat

ballspondroad wrote:

Using the 'Pro Bike' postings on BikeRadar I've put together this table of riders heights, masses and BMIs. Now, before everyone swamps the board pointing out how unreliable and rubbish this is, I agree, but they are still mildly interesting.

Name Date Height/m Mass/kg BMI
Hushovd 08/04/2011 1.83 83 24.8
Cancellara 09/04/2011 1.86 82 23.7
Cavendish 08/07/2010 1.75 69 22.5
Guilbert 19/01/2011 1.79 72 22.5
Boonen 26/01/2011 1.92 82 22.2
Farrer 14/02/2011 1.83 74 22.1
Horner 16/05/2011 1.8 70 21.6
Guesdon 12/04/2011 1.85 73 21.3
Menchov 19/05/2011 1.78 67 21.1
Zabriskie 18/05/2011 1.82 70 21.1
De Negri 22/09/2010 1.69 60 21.0
Basso 23/07/2010 1.83 70 20.9
Euser 15/05/2011 1.7 58 20.1
Contador 22/07/2010 1.77 62 19.8
Schleck (A) 13/01/2011 1.86 68 19.7
Fleeman 13/09/2010 1.8 63 19.4
Wegelius 15/12/2010 1.8 62 19.1

On the 'is MC a bit lardy' question, this table suggests he has a mesomorphic build but is not very tall and so appears 'fat' compared to his more gracile and/or taller colleagues. Plus the camera always adds 10 pounds.

Brilliant, I have the exact same height and weight as Cancellara, explains why I am such a similar cyclist!

Tusher

He's not fat-he's cuddly.

I think it's really just his body shape that makes him appear fatter- and I suspect that there isn't an ounce of spare meat on him. I recall reading- somewhere- that he has a thin line to tread between loosing weight and thus power, or keeping the muscle and failing to get over the mountains. If his team thought he would benefit from loosing weight, then he would- the boy has steely determination.

Cipo, on the other hand, just adores the publicity.

pedro118118

Personally, I think Cav will struggle to win the points jersey, whilst his climbing is so far short of that of some of his rivals, especially Petachi, Hushovd, Freire, Farrar. He's faster, but the way the points work, he needs to be up there every day, contesting the sprint. If it's a hard day, he loses out massively. If it's an easier stage, he only makes small gains on his rivals, as the same names are usually contesting the top 5 of every sprint.

rick_chasey

pedro118118 wrote:

Personally, I think Cav will struggle to win the points jersey, whilst his climbing is so far short of that of some of his rivals, especially Petachi, Hushovd, Freire, Farrar. He's faster, but the way the points work, he needs to be up there every day, contesting the sprint. If it's a hard day, he loses out massively. If it's an easier stage, he only makes small gains on his rivals, as the same names are usually contesting the top 5 of every sprint.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/ma ... een-jersey

TMR

pedro118118 wrote:

Personally, I think Cav will struggle to win the points jersey, whilst his climbing is so far short of that of some of his rivals, especially Petachi, Hushovd, Freire, Farrar. He's faster, but the way the points work, he needs to be up there every day, contesting the sprint. If it's a hard day, he loses out massively. If it's an easier stage, he only makes small gains on his rivals, as the same names are usually contesting the top 5 of every sprint.

That's never going to happen.

Cav wouldn't have the finish if he contested intermediate sprints. I agree that this is what he should be doing, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

shinyhelmut

BigMat wrote:

ballspondroad wrote:

Guilbert 19/01/2011 1.79 72 22.5

Brilliant, I have the exact same height and weight as Cancellara, explains why I am such a similar cyclist!

Brilliant! I have exactly the same height and weight as Pip. And his bike.

dougzz

pedro118118 wrote:

Personally, I think Cav will struggle to win the points jersey, whilst his climbing is so far short of that of some of his rivals, especially Petachi, Hushovd, Freire, Farrar. He's faster, but the way the points work, he needs to be up there every day, contesting the sprint. If it's a hard day, he loses out massively. If it's an easier stage, he only makes small gains on his rivals, as the same names are usually contesting the top 5 of every sprint.

Personally I'd rate 3 stage wins above the Green Jersey, never mind 6. The Green and Polka Dot Jersey's seem a bit artificial, what's the general view?

rick_chasey

dougzz wrote:

Personally I'd rate 3 stage wins above the Green Jersey, never mind 6. The Green and Polka Dot Jersey's seem a bit artificial, what's the general view?

That if you have the talent to win 6, you should be able to man up and take the green jersey while you're at it.

dougzz

Rick Chasey wrote:

That if you have the talent to win 6, you should be able to man up and take the green jersey while you're at it.

Hard to beat Thor mopping up the intermediate's and the commissars

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

That if you have the talent to win 6, you should be able to man up and take the green jersey while you're at it.

The problem with the old system was if you were involved in a crash or had a mechanical and therefore missed out on a sprint, it put you at a disadvantage which was very hard to make up.

Kléber

Cav responds, saying "it's better than being skinny and finishing second".

No_Ta_Doctor

RichN95 wrote:

ballspondroad wrote:

Plus the camera always adds 10 pounds.

And there are usually two or three cameras on Cav.

I almost spat my tea out my nose at that!

inkyfingers

Rick Chasey wrote:

dougzz wrote:

Personally I'd rate 3 stage wins above the Green Jersey, never mind 6. The Green and Polka Dot Jersey's seem a bit artificial, what's the general view?

That if you have the talent to win 6, you should be able to man up and take the green jersey while you're at it.

To me it shows you were the fastest but not the most consistent. Like it or not the Green Jersey is all about consistency and Cav desperately wants to win it, as it would finally put him into that elite club with the likes of Zabel, McEwan and the like.

ermintrude

The black shoes with white socks make him look fat ! Cav is a star and I think he deserves immense credit for speaking Italian in the interviews, especially for someone who 'supposedly' struggles with English

dougzz

inkyfingers wrote:

To me it shows you were the fastest but not the most consistent. Like it or not the Green Jersey is all about consistency and Cav desperately wants to win it, as it would finally put him into that elite club with the likes of Zabel, McEwen and the like.

To be fair I think that's not always the case. Pettachi was consistent in the finishes last year, but Thor the year before set out to win it by mopping up intermediate sprints, as a quite valid tactic to beat Cav. But I don't think you can describe that as more consistent than winning pretty much every sprint stage. The thing is that whilst it's often referred to as the Spinters jerseys it's really not is it. Just like the Giro at the moment, a sprinter certainly won't be winning that title.

Crankbrother

From personal experience you can be too 'lean' ... If everything is perfect you are amazing ... But the first sign of dehydration or lack of calories and you are fecked ... Handing everyone their arse for 100k to die in the last 20 is no fun ... Sound like the kindk of thing that suits a sprinter?

TMR

ermintrude wrote:

Cav is a star and I think he deserves immense credit for speaking Italian in the interviews, especially for someone who 'supposedly' struggles with English

100% this. Well done Cav IMHO.

inkyfingers

dougzz wrote:

inkyfingers wrote:

To me it shows you were the fastest but not the most consistent. Like it or not the Green Jersey is all about consistency and Cav desperately wants to win it, as it would finally put him into that elite club with the likes of Zabel, McEwen and the like.

To be fair I think that's not always the case. Pettachi was consistent in the finishes last year, but Thor the year before set out to win it by mopping up intermediate sprints, as a quite valid tactic to beat Cav. But I don't think you can describe that as more consistent than winning pretty much every sprint stage. The thing is that whilst it's often referred to as the Spinters jerseys it's really not is it. Just like the Giro at the moment, a sprinter certainly won't be winning that title.

Good point, Thor identified his best chance at winning the jersey and tactically got it spot on (with a little help from the judges... ) generally though, it is the most consistent performer that gets it.

pedro118118

The Green Jersey is awarded to the winner of the Points competition. It is up to riders to decide their own strategy for gaining points. As it happens, it favours sprinters, but is not explicitly a Sprinter's Jersey. Personally, it seems incredible that a rider can win 5/6 stages and still lose out, but it comes down versatility and ability to gain points, when outside your comfort zone. As Barry Hoban said, Cav can't climb a bridge and this, together with his refusal to contest intermediate sprints, means it is a struggle for him. That all said, McEwan had a similar strategy, which was successful, but then again he was competing against 'pure' sprinters, so they were generally in the grupetto when he was on the hard stages. I really hope he does win it this year.

Ben6899

ballspondroad wrote:

Using the 'Pro Bike' postings on BikeRadar I've put together this table of riders heights, masses and BMIs. Now, before everyone swamps the board pointing out how unreliable and rubbish this is, I agree, but they are still mildly interesting.

Name Date Height/m Mass/kg BMI
Horner 16/05/2011 1.8 70 21.6

Exactly the same as me. But he's much better on the bike!

And Mark Cavendish isn't fat.

knedlicky

andyp wrote:

oscarbudgie wrote:

This coming from Cippo of all people - the man who never finished a Tour because he couldn't get over the mountains?
I suspect the Giro is mostly a training exercise for Cav - the way to get good at hills is to ride up them

What does Cipollini's Tour finishing record have to do with his ability to comment on a fellow sprinter?

The irony of your posting on this resonates loudly on today of all days, as it is the last day we can expect to see Cavendish in the Giro, i.e. he's going to abandon because of the mountains.

Cipollini was Italian, riding for Italian teams so was mainly paid to win stages in the Giro, which he did in spades, and win the points jersey, which he achieved three times. The Tour for him was a secondary goal.

In an interview a couple of years, Cipo said, that with hindsight he’s now not so sure that his dropping-out of stage races when they reached the mountains was the right thing to do.
On the one hand, he said he thought it good that nowadays sprinters didn’t pack up when they reached the mountains but showed instead that they could manage the climbs.
He also implied his dropping-out was sometimes a personal protest against the difficulties which the race organizers confronted cyclists with, and so he admires the more outspoken cyclists of today, when it comes to expressing dissatisfaction with how races are organized.
Could be Cipo was talking Italian blarney then, though.

disgruntledgoat

As much as I loved Mario in his day... Amazing how his protest coincided with the end of the flat first week every single year, wasn't it?

inkyfingers

disgruntledgoat wrote:

As much as I loved Mario in his day... Amazing how his protest coincided with the end of the flat first week every single year, wasn't it?

Couldn't agree more! He was a great rider but he's talking rubbish on this occasion.

Will never forget him bridging to the leaders solo then taking out the sprint at 2002 Ghent Wevelgem. Would love to see Cav win a race in that style one day.

frenchfighter

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/8498/ ... -more.aspx

knedlicky

Cavendish's interview makes it sound like there have never been any other plans in mind for this weekend, except that he get the weekend off. If so, he's misled the organisers of the Berlin race on Sunday, because they only got to know of his withdrawal yesterday.
It's also a pity because he could have tested himself against Greipel, as well as the likes of O'Grady, Cancellara, Haussler, and Posthuma. Martin or Degenkolb will now lead HTC.

inkyfingers

knedlicky wrote:

Cavendish's interview makes it sound like there have never been any other plans in mind for this weekend, except that he get the weekend off. If so, he's misled the organisers of the Berlin race on Sunday, because they only got to know of his withdrawal yesterday.
It's also a pity because he could have tested himself against Greipel, as well as the likes of O'Grady, Cancellara, Haussler, and Posthuma. Martin or Degenkolb will now lead HTC.

I thought you weren't able to enter another UCI race if you'd withdrawn from one already that was still going on?

iainf72

inkyfingers wrote:

I thought you weren't able to enter another UCI race if you'd withdrawn from one already that was still going on?

Correct, unless you agree it with the organisers.

inkyfingers

iainf72 wrote:

inkyfingers wrote:

I thought you weren't able to enter another UCI race if you'd withdrawn from one already that was still going on?

Correct, unless you agree it with the organisers.

Thank you Iain, I feel validated!

squired

Who ate all the pies?

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/wp-conte ... e12-33.jpg

He doesn't appear to be carrying too much excess weight in this photo from yesterday.