3 GT Points Wins in 1 Season

cal_stewart

Has anyone done this?

Was thinking about it, when cav went for the intermedite sprint, I believe he will not pull out in the 3 week if he's still winning the points. So if he does the giro, tour double maybe a trip to Spain is in order.

Or I'm I talking boll0£ks

RichN95.

No-one's done it in a single year (it's hard enough to finish all three). Only four riders have won all three in their career (Merckx, Abdoujaparov, Jalabert and Petacchi). I have no doubt that Cavendish wants to join this list, so maybe he'll stick around. However, those two crashes have done a whole heap of damage and Rdriguez and Pozzovivo aren't very far behind him - if he loses the jersey any time after today, then he's probably not going to get it back.

RonB

...and stages 14 & 15 look like a world of pain, especiallly for the sprinters. I'll bet that rest day after Denmark seems like ages ago now.

ruswilks

Would I be right in saying that all stages in the Giro are worth the same points at the finish, unlike the Tour which awards more on flat stages? That's going to make it pretty difficult for any sprinter to win the jersey given what's coming up next week. Without the crashes he may have had a chance, but unless a breakaway goes to the finish on virtually every remaining stage after today I can't see Cav winning it.

rick_chasey

ruswilks wrote:

Would I be right in saying that all stages in the Giro are worth the same points at the finish, unlike the Tour which awards more on flat stages? That's going to make it pretty difficult for any sprinter to win the jersey given what's coming up next week. Without the crashes he may have had a chance, but unless a breakaway goes to the finish on virtually every remaining stage after today I can't see Cav winning it.

Correct.

bigmat

Rick Chasey wrote:

ruswilks wrote:

Would I be right in saying that all stages in the Giro are worth the same points at the finish, unlike the Tour which awards more on flat stages? That's going to make it pretty difficult for any sprinter to win the jersey given what's coming up next week. Without the crashes he may have had a chance, but unless a breakaway goes to the finish on virtually every remaining stage after today I can't see Cav winning it.

Correct.

Cue lots of Sky breakaways? Would be nice to see, and not unlikely unless Uran / Henao show well when the mountains proper arrive.

rick_chasey

We're finally beginning to see more realistic amounts of wins (historically speaking...) from Cav this Giro.

In the times I remember there was always a lottery element to sprints - riders would get boxed in, had lines checked, crashed, etc etc. It was OK because there was always another sprint day. Cav's ridiculous consistency was always what set him apart - this Giro is a bit more like normal again.

Sprints are chaotic, messy, and difficult to control.

inkyfingers

Rick Chasey wrote:

We're finally beginning to see more realistic amounts of wins (historically speaking...) from Cav this Giro.

In the times I remember there was always a lottery element to sprints - riders would get boxed in, had lines checked, crashed, etc etc. It was OK because there was always another sprint day. Cav's ridiculous consistency was always what set him apart - this Giro is a bit more like normal again.

Sprints are chaotic, messy, and difficult to control.

He's won two sprints this Giro so far with the posibility of 2 more. He won 2 in 2008, 3 in 2009 and 2 in 2011 so i'd say it's normal service really. You always get more open sprints and more crashes at the Giro as since the demise of the red train you don't tend to get one dominant sprint train, even HTC were never quite as dominant at the Giro as they were at the Tour.

Hopefully Sky's dual aims will mean that we get the same thing at the Tour this year.

rick_chasey

Fingers crossed.

Those battles between sprinters were always good value - McEwen Boonen being a favourite...

inkyfingers

Considering that Green Edge don't have a GC rider I can see them trying to boss the sprints for Goss. Will be interesting to see how Cav can do against Goss when he has maybe 2 or 3 guys riding for him and Goss might have 6 or 7. I still think Cav will dominate, but maybe not as much as in the past.

bigmat

inkyfingers wrote:

Considering that Green Edge don't have a GC rider I can see them trying to boss the sprints for Goss. Will be interesting to see how Cav can do against Goss when he has maybe 2 or 3 guys riding for him and Goss might have 6 or 7. I still think Cav will dominate, but maybe not as much as in the past.

I think Cav will be laughing in this scenario. He can use Goss as his lead out man and the rest of the Sky team can put their feet up. Solves the whole "going for yellow / green" conundrum at a stroke.

ruswilks

At the Tour Sky need to make sure they keep Greenedge riders from getting into the early break on flat stages. As long as they do that then GE will have to really contribute to bringing the breaks back and setting up a sprint, otherwise they will have nothing to gain from the Tour other than hoping someone like Gerrans or Albasini get in the right break on a medium mountain stage. Sky can always refuse to ride knowing they are aiming for the GC podium aswell, GE won't have that luxury. In that scenario Sky can probably get way with taking Pate, Eisel, and EBH for Cav and still have a reasonable train for the last 5/10km as long as riders like Porte, Rogers or Suitsou work early in the stage if necessary.

greasedscotsman

Cal_Stewart wrote:

Has anyone done this?

Was thinking about it, when cav went for the intermedite sprint, I believe he will not pull out in the 3 week if he's still winning the points. So if he does the giro, tour double maybe a trip to Spain is in order.

Or I'm I talking boll0£ks

Maybe not, looks like he's going to Milan.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-c ... o-to-milan