Cavendish - best sportsman in the world?

tailwindhome

Above The Cows wrote:

Compared to the track cyclists all road cyclists are obviously better, suffer more etc. etc. I mean the track lot get to cycle inside out of the rain, get to do their natural breaks in an actual toilet with loo roll and never even have to turn right.

It's all a piece of pish compared to RAAM.

above_the_cows

TailWindHome wrote:

It's all a piece of pish compared to RAAM.

Now that is truly (to quote that annoying Money Supermarket advert) epic. Just staving off the boredom of the seemingly never-ending sameness of some of the scenery takes skill.

dave_1

deejay wrote:

Dave_1 wrote:

Cav races 300 metres and max a km..his team do the rest...

I didn't know that OPQS picked up Cavendish from his car (you don't say where) and and set him on his way 300 metres from the Line.
I always thought Cavendish rode the whole stage of 150/250 Km's and over the mountains within the time limits.
Well there you go you learn something everyday. :!: :!:
He's quite a missile though for 300 metres.

Oh..how witty. Use of sarcasm & attack the straw man fallacy you construct from my comments. GC wins at the grand tours and the 3 biggest one day races are worth 20 stages of team assisted , almost phoned in, wins. Anyone who appreciates the valor and toughness of the GC men fighting for the grand tour GC podiums know this sprinting business is a side show and always will be to the main purpose of the event! I suppose you have not missed out the main purpose of a grand tour which puts all the the other side show aspects into the shade.

mike6

Dave_1 wrote:

deejay wrote:

Dave_1 wrote:

Cav races 300 metres and max a km..his team do the rest...

I didn't know that OPQS picked up Cavendish from his car (you don't say where) and and set him on his way 300 metres from the Line.
I always thought Cavendish rode the whole stage of 150/250 Km's and over the mountains within the time limits.
Well there you go you learn something everyday. :!: :!:
He's quite a missile though for 300 metres.

Oh..how witty. Use of sarcasm & attack the straw man fallacy you construct from my comments. GC wins at the grand tours and the 3 biggest one day races are worth 20 stages of team assisted , almost phoned in, wins. Anyone who appreciates the valor and toughness of the GC men fighting for the grand tour GC podiums know this sprinting business is a side show and always will be to the main purpose of the event! I suppose you have not missed out the main purpose of a grand tour which puts all the the other side show aspects into the shade.

I appreciate the valor and toughness of every rider that can finish a GT. Also I would hate to watch a flat transition stage without the manic last 15k and the spectacle of the sprinters battling at 70kph for the win. Without this the peloton would just roll along for 250k so the GT contenders could save themselves for the next TT or summit finish.

adr82

Dave_1 wrote:

Oh..how witty. Use of sarcasm & attack the straw man fallacy you construct from my comments. GC wins at the grand tours and the 3 biggest one day races are worth 20 stages of team assisted , almost phoned in, wins. Anyone who appreciates the valor and toughness of the GC men fighting for the grand tour GC podiums know this sprinting business is a side show and always will be to the main purpose of the event! I suppose you have not missed out the main purpose of a grand tour which puts all the the other side show aspects into the shade.

Ah, I was unaware that GC contenders did it all on their own. Pretty amazing of them to get through the full 3 weeks of a GT without relying on a team like those lazy sprinters do... I also hate how the points competitions consistently overshadow the GC battles, it's all the commentators can talk about on the mountain stages sometimes.

:roll:

lostboysaint

I know I'm relatively new on here but have all his other 9k odd posts been as ridiculous?

greasedscotsman

adr82 wrote:

Ah, I was unaware that GC contenders did it all on their own. Pretty amazing of them to get through the full 3 weeks of a GT without relying on a team like those lazy sprinters do... I also hate how the points competitions consistently overshadow the GC battles, it's all the commentators can talk about on the mountain stages sometimes.

:roll:

Ahh, no. They do have team mates to get water bottles. Like this from last year's TdF...

frenchfighter

I think you will find that whatever you say about Cavendish he is an undisputed heavyweight and his name is being carved in the legends.

greasedscotsman

Think that girl is more interested in her bag of Pastefrolle.

Richmond Racer

greasedscotsman wrote:

adr82 wrote:

Ah, I was unaware that GC contenders did it all on their own. Pretty amazing of them to get through the full 3 weeks of a GT without relying on a team like those lazy sprinters do... I also hate how the points competitions consistently overshadow the GC battles, it's all the commentators can talk about on the mountain stages sometimes.

:roll:

Ahh, no. They do have team mates to get water bottles. Like this from last year's TdF...

^this is actually the real reason Gilbert wants to ride the Tour. Anything Cav can do in the jersey....

Macaloon

Modern frames are so ugly.The UCI needs to get back to basics and ban plank-wide "tubes".

adr82

greasedscotsman wrote:

adr82 wrote:

Ah, I was unaware that GC contenders did it all on their own. Pretty amazing of them to get through the full 3 weeks of a GT without relying on a team like those lazy sprinters do... I also hate how the points competitions consistently overshadow the GC battles, it's all the commentators can talk about on the mountain stages sometimes.

:roll:

Ahh, no. They do have team mates to get water bottles. Like this from last year's TdF...

Or this:

frenchfighter

Cavendish fans: right click, save

inkyfingers

What do we think his chances are of winning the green jersey again this year?

frenchfighter

He is not riding for Sky so pretty high.

disgruntledgoat

inkyfingers wrote:

What do we think his chances are of winning the green jersey again this year?

Reckon Sagan set the template for the next few years of Green Jersey last year.

Daz555

inkyfingers wrote:

What do we think his chances are of winning the green jersey again this year?

Better than last year. He won 3 last year and crashed on 2 stages which were made for him IIRC so he has every chance.

Daz555

Dave_1 wrote:

Oh..how witty. Use of sarcasm & attack the straw man fallacy you construct from my comments. GC wins at the grand tours and the 3 biggest one day races are worth 20 stages of team assisted , almost phoned in, wins. Anyone who appreciates the valor and toughness of the GC men fighting for the grand tour GC podiums know this sprinting business is a side show and always will be to the main purpose of the event! I suppose you have not missed out the main purpose of a grand tour which puts all the the other side show aspects into the shade.

How is a sprint in any way a "phoned in win" when there are numerous sprinters all going for the same prize?

The GC is quite rightly the main event but good grief it would so often be dull on its own. This year's Giro and last year's Tour for example were incredibly dull from a GC perspective. Winning stages is as much part of a GT as GC contention.

As for use of the word "valor". I'll save that one for soldiers, not cyclists.

Going back to the OP - no I don't think Cav is the best sportsman in the world. He's a peerless road sprinter though, and one of the all time greats.

RichN95.

Daz555 wrote:

Dave_1 wrote:

Oh..how witty. Use of sarcasm & attack the straw man fallacy you construct from my comments. GC wins at the grand tours and the 3 biggest one day races are worth 20 stages of team assisted , almost phoned in, wins. Anyone who appreciates the valor and toughness of the GC men fighting for the grand tour GC podiums know this sprinting business is a side show and always will be to the main purpose of the event! I suppose you have not missed out the main purpose of a grand tour which puts all the the other side show aspects into the shade.

How is a sprint in any way a "phoned in win" when there are numerous sprinters all going for the same prize?

If I thought Dave_1 was a smart man then I say it was a clever reference to the HTC team.

But I don't, so it isn't.

bompington

Daz555 wrote:

As for use of the word "valor". I'll save that one for americans

FTFY. Though I may be showing unnecessary valour being so pedantic.

Daz555

bompington wrote:

Daz555 wrote:

As for use of the word "valor". I'll save that one for americans

FTFY. Though I may be showing unnecessary valour being so pedantic.