Cavendish, the Tour, The Olympics
rick_chasey
Posts: 75,661
Comments
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Playing to the market. To most Brits nothing is bigger than an Olympic medal so they aren't going to say "we're not really bothered about the Olympics, it's a bit of a nothing racing to pro cyclists".0
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There is a chance he could get off in the Tour if he is tired and is digging himself into a hole
The trouble is a lot of the GB team he will be relying on to get him around the Olympic course will be tired and digging themselves into a hole for the whole of the Tour and expected to do the same again in the Olympic RR.
Seems little point him being as fresh as a daisy if his team mates are shredded with domestique duties from the Tour (remember the Bejing madison and Wiggo's exhaustion in a race too far?)
He's better off racing to his maximum potential in the Tour, anything can happen in a one off RR0 -
I reckon Cav will quit the Tour just after the roll out on Day7.
He'll then be focused on the Olympics and Sky will be commited to Wiggins for GC“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
If he gets himself into the green jersey then I can't see him quitting the tour, especially with the thought of another Champs Elysee win.
The route of the tour this year suits him, with lots of sprint stages, fewer really tough mountain stages and a couple of long TTs which he can ride at a relativey relaxed pace. The tour must be excellent endurance training for a long road race,I think there's 5 days between the Tour and the Olympics, a bit of time to rest but still be in good form.
I guess by saying it now they've covered themselves."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
It may also depend on how Wiggins is going, if for whatever reason he's out of the GC race in the first week or two then there may be pressure on Cav to stay in the race to save Sky's tour."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0
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is the feeling now that the olympic RR will end in a sprint finish? i guess it depends on how the teams control it but i thought that after the test race people weren't so sure it would be Cav-friendly. I guess it was only a test race and he can just train specifically but still....0
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Any speculation on the other 4 British riders likely to be selected for the RR?
Thomas and Swift are both doing track events so can't do the road. Millar is not eligible. Wiggins will probably be held back for the TT.
Cummings
Stannard
Froome
Hunt
Not quite the domination of Copenhagen...0 -
afx237vi wrote:Any speculation on the other 4 British riders likely to be selected for the RR?
Thomas and Swift are both doing track events so can't do the road. Millar is not eligible. Wiggins will probably be held back for the TT.
Cummings
Stannard
Froome
Hunt
Not quite the domination of Copenhagen...
You swap any of those four for Thomas & Millar.
UK f*cking it for themselves.0 -
inkyfingers wrote:If he gets himself into the green jersey then I can't see him quitting the tour, especially with the thought of another Champs Elysee win.
Depends I guess on what value people and teams put on the green jersey. I put almost no value on it and can see from a career / recognition perspective the Olympics is far bigger.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Is there not a rule about olympic selection that riders in the TT have to be selected from those that are in the road race? Sure i read that somewhere0
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I'm sure I read that Wiggins was planning on the RR and the TT at the Olympics“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0
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Ah, in that case, Jeremy Hunt gets the boot.0
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iainf72 wrote:inkyfingers wrote:If he gets himself into the green jersey then I can't see him quitting the tour, especially with the thought of another Champs Elysee win.
Depends I guess on what value people and teams put on the green jersey. I put almost no value on it and can see from a career / recognition perspective the Olympics is far bigger.
Dissing a Tour jersey, even the green jersey, would be quite an affront to the ASO....0 -
http://www.uci.ch/Modules/BUILTIN/getOb ... Q&LangId=1
Yeah. You must be entered to the 'mass start event' to qualify for the TT.
Nonsense regulation.“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
Any chance of going for the sprints jersey in the giro, a few early stages in the tour, then leaving early making sure he's in tip top condition for the Olympics, and leaving Brad to get on with attempting to win the tour.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0
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Rick Chasey wrote:
Dissing a Tour jersey, even the green jersey, would be quite an affront to the ASO....
The yellow jersey is the only one with any value.
The rest are novelty events and should be abolished.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
iainf72 wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:
Dissing a Tour jersey, even the green jersey, would be quite an affront to the ASO....
The yellow jersey is the only one with any value.
The rest are novelty events and should be abolished.
The rest do an OK job of keeping the tour watch-able for all 21 stages
I'd say the KoM jersey needs re hashing, the white jersey is, erm, actually not terrifically interesting most of the time but I quite like the green jersey.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
iainf72 wrote:inkyfingers wrote:If he gets himself into the green jersey then I can't see him quitting the tour, especially with the thought of another Champs Elysee win.
Depends I guess on what value people and teams put on the green jersey. I put almost no value on it and can see from a career / recognition perspective the Olympics is far bigger.
Sean Kelly is hunting you down as I type this....Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
Jez mon wrote:
The rest do an OK job of keeping the tour watch-able for all 21 stages
The older I get the less compelled I seem to be to watch boring stages so I barely pay attention to flat stages in GT's now. The most exciting thing tends to be a GC guy being knocked out of the running by a crash or something. You need those stages are a wearing down process.
I seem to recall seeing an advert for a DVD of Cavendish's sprint victories. A comp of the same guy winning over and over and over. Surely even for the fans that must be deal. Then again, people buy Coldplay albums so I'll never understand their behavior.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
First you're dissing Green and now it's all Yellow0
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iainf72 wrote:The yellow jersey is the only one with any value.
The rest are novelty events and should be abolished.
Not a fan of the Inter Giro at the Tour of Italy then?0 -
As I see it, this year's Olympics could be Cavendish's only chance at a gold medal. No idea what the next course will be like at the next games, but it's quite possible it won't suit him. The course in London does suit him, so if I was managing the Sky team, I would send him to the Giro and not to the Tour. Then the entire Tour squad can be built around Wiggins.0
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Yes, for many that would be reasonable, but would you want to be the one who tells him?0
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iainf72 wrote:Jez mon wrote:
The rest do an OK job of keeping the tour watch-able for all 21 stages
The older I get the less compelled I seem to be to watch boring stages so I barely pay attention to flat stages in GT's now. The most exciting thing tends to be a GC guy being knocked out of the running by a crash or something. You need those stages are a wearing down process.
I seem to recall seeing an advert for a DVD of Cavendish's sprint victories. A comp of the same guy winning over and over and over. Surely even for the fans that must be deal. Then again, people buy Coldplay albums so I'll never understand their behavior.
Iain, my Cav DVDs are watchable over and over and over again.
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Tusher wrote:Yes, for many that would be reasonable, but would you want to be the one who tells him?
Oh, I'd like to be the one who tells him!
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greasedscotsman wrote:As I see it, this year's Olympics could be Cavendish's only chance at a gold medal. No idea what the next course will be like at the next games, but it's quite possible it won't suit him. The course in London does suit him, so if I was managing the Sky team, I would send him to the Giro and not to the Tour. Then the entire Tour squad can be built around Wiggins.
That wouldn't work. Cav would need to ride some proper races in the run up to the Olympics and if he didn't ride the tour then the last serious race before the Olympics is the Tour de Suisse which finishes about 6 weeks before the Olympics.
Sky have paid big bucks for Cavendish, unless he's ill or injured there is no way he won't be at the Tour."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
Sounds like Sky are long range sand bagging. As already mentioned they have paid a lot of money for him to do a job. That job is winning races (and primarily Tour stages). Gold is very important to British Cycling and the British public. I'm sure he will be going for both green and gold.0
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inkyfingers wrote:Sky have paid big bucks for Cavendish, unless he's ill or injured there is no way he won't be at the Tour.
Sure, but I think an Olympic Gold is worth more to Sky than an other points jersey or stage wins at the Tour. Most of the British public have no idea what they are.
But I reckon your right, he will be at the Tour. He'll want to pick up some stage wins, maybe he'll pull out early, who knows. Just think that's a shame for Wiggins who probably has his best shot at a Tour win and has to take a compromised team along.
Also the suggestion of sending Cavendish to the Giro would be to win the points jersey. But not sure how easy that would be to win, with the different points system there.0 -
iainf72 wrote:Depends I guess on what value people and teams put on the green jersey. I put almost no value on it and can see from a career / recognition perspective the Olympics is far bigger.
Interesting.
My view is the opposite. As far as cycling is concerned, I feel that just about every significant race is more important than the Olympics. I can see that Joe Public, who will not have the passion I have for cycling, or knowledge of these races, their history and significance, may mistakenly consider the Olympics to be 'all that and a bag of chips'.0
