Cav and Sky

mr_goo

This has probably been discussed already, so apologies for bringing up again. I am not an expert at the pro race scene, unlike some of you out there, so below is just observation and thoughts.

It occurred to me and another cycling colleague of mine that perhaps Cav joined Sky as matter of convenience, as the British Olympic team will almost all be Sky riders. He will benefit from the integrated training and they clearly want to help him get the gold medal. Yet what happens after the games?
So far you can see that without a team dedicated to deliver him to the line he is going to struggle. He was awesome though on stage 2. Yet I cannot see this being a regular thing, especially now with Lotto gearing up nicely (2x Greipel wins already), Liquigas (Sagan 2 wins) and Greenedge with Goss.
I just wonder whether he will move on at the end of this season or give it one more year. He is after stage win records at the Tour and might not get there in the current set up. Time is also going to be against him. There are teams out there that would set themselves up to work as stage winners only. Perhaps Quickstep is an option? What do those of you with a greater insight think?

iainf72

Nah, he'll stay. He's on ridiculous money and had a 3 year contract. Not that contracts mean much to Sky.

Also, you really need to expect him to get "slower" and not win as much.

Jez mon

I think we might see a more 50/50 split in Sky's efforts next year, between Cav and Wiggo, because I doubt the course will suit wiggo as much as this year.

RichN95.

One duff sprint and people are writing him off saying there's some sort of crisis. Happens every year. Don't you learn?

ddraver

NEVER RICHARD!!!!!!

bazbadger

RichN95 wrote:

One duff sprint and people are writing him off saying there's some sort of crisis. Happens every year. Don't you learn?

Exactly. Seem to remember him chasing the intermediates last year to keep the chances alive. It would not be any other way.

mr_goo

RichN95 wrote:

One duff sprint and people are writing him off saying there's some sort of crisis. Happens every year. Don't you learn?

Not writing him off at all. Cav is a fantastic sprinter no doubt the best on his day. Just merely pointing out that to get the best out of a top sprinter they have to be looked after and delivered to the line. As has happened over the previous years and last two stages this year. If HTC/Highroad were still going this year, they would have bossed the last two days and catapulted Cav over the line. Are Sky ever going to set up for that? If Wiggo does win this year, Sky will be looking for back to back wins even if the course is set up in favour of the purist climber (it is sure to have Ventoux and D'Huez as summit finishes).

Pross

Mr Goo wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

One duff sprint and people are writing him off saying there's some sort of crisis. Happens every year. Don't you learn?

Not writing him off at all. Cav is a fantastic sprinter no doubt the best on his day. Just merely pointing out that to get the best out of a top sprinter they have to be looked after and delivered to the line. As has happened over the previous years and last two stages this year. If HTC/Highroad were still going this year, they would have bossed the last two days and catapulted Cav over the line. Are Sky ever going to set up for that? If Wiggo does win this year, Sky will be looking for back to back wins even if the course is set up in favour of the purist climber (it is sure to have Ventoux and D'Huez as summit finishes).

I disagree with that, he looks comfortable following wheels as he did in his win in stage 2. OK, a train to keep him safe until the last km or so (which also helps the GC riders stay safe) but after that he doesn't need one and on several occassions this season he has been provided with a train but then chosen to join someone elses train. I think the whole idea of lead out trains is over-rate and it's a relatively recent approach. The only reason HTC did it was because other teams accepted Cav was the best sprinter and came to expect them to do all the work. Yesterday's result was partly down to not enough teams working to pull the break back and then panicking when it looked like the break might stay away. A lot of crashes are a result of there being too many people trying to get to the front to 'be safe' which is why so many crashes now take place in the front section of the race.

rebs

I would not be supraised to see Sky use more leadout trains especially as Thomas will be back full time who was shaping up to be a promising leadout man as well as his targets to ride the classics.