Cav can leave SKY if he wants (and someone else wants him!)
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Rick Chasey wrote:I don't think he has the physique for a classics rider beyond M-SR.
He's no Zabel or Museeuw (or Boonen for that matter).
He reminds me a bit of Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle in term of physique. No reason why he couldn't handle Roubaix if he put his mind to it - good bike handler and an expert at knowing where to position himself in a group. The problem he will always have is no group is going to work with him in it so he is always going to be left chasing if another rider rides away.0 -
Pross wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:I don't think he has the physique for a classics rider beyond M-SR.
He's no Zabel or Museeuw (or Boonen for that matter).
He reminds me a bit of Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle in term of physique. No reason why he couldn't handle Roubaix if he put his mind to it - good bike handler and an expert at knowing where to position himself in a group. The problem he will always have is no group is going to work with him in it so he is always going to be left chasing if another rider rides away.
It's a different kind of effort though.
He's not especially powerful.
Greipel, maybe.
Cav is like a really fast Robbie McEwen.0 -
I'd be inclined to agree with Rick, but i've also learnt never to write off Cavendish."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0
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plectrum wrote:Saying all that I'm really not too sure Cav will go anywhere. This is a team which looks set to truly dominate cycling and I think he'll decide to be part of it rather than against it.
Dominate? What did they do at the Giro or the classics this year?0 -
Pross wrote:He reminds me a bit of Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle in term of physique. No reason why he couldn't handle Roubaix if he put his mind to it - good bike handler and an expert at knowing where to position himself in a group. The problem he will always have is no group is going to work with him in it so he is always going to be left chasing if another rider rides away.
Don't see it. He's only started Paris Roubaix once in 2011 and he didn't finish. Along with Flanders it's a race where experience counts. Who was the last rider to win it at the first attempt?0 -
I'm with Rick again.....no way does Cav have the physique to turn into a one day rider.....this year he has lost weight, is climbing better and in the stages that Sagan won in the Tour, he wasn't in the bunch.0
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I know this is business like and sensible but I am really disappointed by this as both a sky fan and cav fan. I think cav is a great team player and I honestly though he wsn't just a cynical "back up plan" but they had a good idea of how to make a gc team also work for a world class sprinter. Cav with his gb cycling family I thought was a great match but now it feels like he is an afterthought.
He will bring exposure, consistency and performance for any team he is with and I hope he finds the right home where he is an equal to any ambitions the team have. For a guy who does so much for the team and seems like a great team mate to work for I don't feel this sort of statement is a good reward for that effort.
Perhaps having watched the victoria pendelton doc I have less admiration for what seems like a machine that looks at results only.0 -
There are worse places to be than OPQS if Cav harbours Classics ambitions...point your handlebars towards the heavens and sweat like you're in hell0
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RichN95 wrote:
It's no good having ambitions if you aren't going to get on the team. However, Tom Boonen wouldn't be sad to let someone else do Gent-Wevelgem.patchy wrote:There are worse places to be than OPQS if Cav harbours Classics ambitions...
If anything it's a useful card to play for that particular race.
Boonen can get all frisky and aggressive in the race, and if it gets back together, Cav wins it anyway.
Boonen isn't very keen on Cav though....0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Boonen isn't very keen on Cav though....
Why?0 -
The Mad Rapper wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Boonen isn't very keen on Cav though....
Why?
When Cav first came about it was around the time Boonen was still considered a top class sprinter.
Cav was quite noisy in the press about Boonen and I think Boonen didn't like it, (nor the fact Boonen kept getting beaten by Cav).0 -
greasedscotsman wrote:Pross wrote:He reminds me a bit of Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle in term of physique. No reason why he couldn't handle Roubaix if he put his mind to it - good bike handler and an expert at knowing where to position himself in a group. The problem he will always have is no group is going to work with him in it so he is always going to be left chasing if another rider rides away.
Don't see it. He's only started Paris Roubaix once in 2011 and he didn't finish. Along with Flanders it's a race where experience counts. Who was the last rider to win it at the first attempt?
Just pointing out the similarities in physiques, Rick reckons Cav doesn't have the physique for a Classics rider but I think he's a very similar shape to Duclos-Lassalle who wasn't to shabby at P-R.
I guess it would depend on whether he was prepared to have a couple of seasons of failure whilst adapting but I just see him getting bored of winning sprints in stage races, minor one day races and semi-classics as he gets older.0 -
Pross wrote:Just pointing out the similarities in physiques, Rick reckons Cav doesn't have the physique for a Classics rider but I think he's a very similar shape to Duclos-Lassalle who wasn't to shabby at P-R.
I guess it would depend on whether he was prepared to have a couple of seasons of failure whilst adapting but I just see him getting bored of winning sprints in stage races, minor one day races and semi-classics as he gets older.
Trouble is, how many attempts did Duclos Lassalle make before he won? Even a rider like Boonen, who grew up racing on cobbles "only" won on his 4th attempt. I don't think it's a race you can just rock up and win. Even if he does ride a couple of times, he'll be up against riders with alot more experience. OK, maybe he will win it at some point. Just don't see it myself.0 -
Surely if Cav is in the field at PR or Flanders, everyone else is going to try that much harder to get rid of him. Even with a team around him the parcours are such that a chase and catch, as in the Tour or MSR, are nigh on impossible. He'll have to become almost a completely different rider.
Not impossible, as we've just witnessed, but I can't see it.0 -
The Mad Rapper wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Boonen isn't very keen on Cav though....
Why?
It's not uncommon you knowFckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0
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ALaPlage wrote:If asked how does that work for Cav then he is saying this is our raisin d'être and if Cav feels its not for him then I won't stand in his way.
So no sour grapes, hopefully.
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