Cav not doing the Giro...

pinno

Can we assume that he has more competition in the sprinting stakes and maybe is intent on a green jersey so has to prioritise or is it team driven?

Anonymous

pinarello001 wrote:

Can we assume that he has more competition in the sprinting stakes and maybe is intent on a green jersey so has to prioritise or is it team driven?

I mean you could assume this from the statement he made where he said: "my goal this year is the tour"

argyllflyer

Now he's won the maglia rosso (edit!) (ironically just before it becomes a true sprinters jersey), hauling his ass through Italy, even for a week or two, perhaps has less incentive. The sprinters have drifted off to the Tour of Turkey in recent times - I wonder if he just fancies a bit more competition ahead of his stated true goal of snatching green from Sagan? Then again it seems the main sprint rivals (Kittel / Greipel (who is down for ToT too) are doing the Giro, so perhaps not!

greasedscotsman

argyllflyer wrote:

Now he's won the maglia rosa (ironically just before it becomes a true sprinters jersey)..,

Don't you mean the maglia rosso?

Anyway, I would have thought his big target would be the British stages of the Tour (which he probably will win) rather than the points classification (which IMO, he will not).

argyllflyer

greasedscotsman wrote:

argyllflyer wrote:

Now he's won the maglia rosa (ironically just before it becomes a true sprinters jersey)..,

Don't you mean the maglia rosso?

Anyway, I would have thought his big target would be the British stages of the Tour (which he probably will win) rather than the points classification (which IMO, he will not).

I do yes! haha my Italian is pish. Red not pink. Shall edit my erroneous linguistic error.

However, he made such a fuss about not being able to challenge for green when he held it going into 2012 so I can't see how it will be less of a focus now. Yes, 2 of the 3 British stages seem good for Cav but I think he'll be out to bag as many as he can as the race goes on. I also think Sagan is challengable this year if someone can rack up enough individual stage wins. Cav/Kittel/Greipel sharing them fairly equally will play into PS's hands though.

takethehighroad

What Greased said (apart from he won't win in Sheffield, too lumpy)

DeVlaeminck

It's only a few weeks ago Petacchi (or some veteran Italian sprinter with a name of similar spelling) was telling him he couldn't make the Tour his whole focus. I'm a bit surprised, I'd have thought he'd want to bag a few more stages of a grand tour. On the other hand I haven't looked at the route and maybe the Giro doesn't offer many early sprint stages and he doesn't want to commit to finishing the 3 weeks.

rich_pcp

greasedscotsman wrote:

argyllflyer wrote:

Now he's won the maglia rosa (ironically just before it becomes a true sprinters jersey)..,

Don't you mean the maglia rosso?

Anyway, I would have thought his big target would be the British stages of the Tour (which he probably will win) rather than the points classification (which IMO, he will not).

...or maglia rossa perché?

EKIMIKE

Maybe he just fancies something different for this year? It's understandable.

I think the 'avoiding the competition' line of thought is more a fans perspective. After-all he will certainly face Kittel and Greipel at the Tour and possibly the Vuelta. Lets not forget that Cav has been good value over the years in starting at least 2/3 if not all three Grand Tours per season since his second year as a pro.

Greipel on the other hand has only ever done the TdF since joining Lotto.

argyllflyer

Whatever the motivation, doing Turkey and California is a less arduous build-up than the Giro, extra travelling excepted of course. Tour of Turkey is always great TV and Cav will certainly animate the race. Shame Kittel's not there this time around.

joelsim

DeVlaeminck wrote:

It's only a few weeks ago Petacchi (or some veteran Italian sprinter with a name of similar spelling) was telling him he couldn't make the Tour his whole focus. I'm a bit surprised, I'd have thought he'd want to bag a few more stages of a grand tour. On the other hand I haven't looked at the route and maybe the Giro doesn't offer many early sprint stages and he doesn't want to commit to finishing the 3 weeks.

Hmm, the first week of the Giro is for sprinters.

I suspect he wants to concentrate on winning more Tour stages, as that is what will go down in the history books.

TMR

As no-one has bothered to post the actual info...

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team has announced the program of Mark Cavendish for the coming weeks. As previously communicated, the British Champion will ride the Tour of Turkey at the end of April. He will then ride the AMGEN Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse prior to the Tour de France.

"As everybody knows, my big goal this year is the Tour de France," Cavendish said. "Especially as it starts in my native country. My program is shaped for that moment. This year I will skip the Giro d'Italia. I'm saddened as it's a race that has given me great satisfaction in the past. I have great memories and victories, even last year. But, with the Tour de France as my main objective this year, we had to make some choices. I'm sure passing through the Tour of Turkey, and a great, well organized race like Tour of California will get me in shape and ready for the Tour de Suisse, which will be my final tune-up for the Tour de France."

"With the sickness Mark had, we had to reshape his calendar a little bit," Sport and Development Manager Rolf Aldag said. "It's a shame because Mark showed how strong he was at Milano-Sanremo. He could have taken advantage of his condition during the period immediately after that race. But, it is what is is, and now we have rebuilt the best approach for Cavendish heading into the Tour. Cav is now training in Italy and will be back at Tour of Turkey with a good, strong team around him. With Tour of Turkey we will open the second part of his season, that culminates with the Tour de France."

http://www.omegapharma-quickstep.com/en ... mined/1689

mulletmaster

Giro line up looking a bit short on household names now which is a shame. It would have been possible for him to win all 3 Irish stages as well, the first being a TTT and the next two being pretty damn flat. I don't think he is in the shape for a GT, is the long and the short of it.

tailwindhome

mulletmaster wrote:

Giro line up looking a bit short on household names now which is a shame.

It is a shame. A month out and you can feel the enthusiasm building for the race. It would be great if there were more names the general public were aware of. Typically people have heard of Cavendish and Wiggins, much more so than Deignan, Roche and Martin.

tailwindhome

joelsim

If Quintana doesn't win the Giro, I'll be very surprised. There isn't much Grand Tour oppo left racing with Porte, Horner and others not racing. J-Rod is perhaps the only other capable of beating him, and he had the crash at the weekend.

My 150/1 wager on Arredondo is looking better every day.

cal_stewart

Lack of big names at the giro could well lead to better racing. There's a good chance for people to make a name for themselves

pinno

I like the Giro. In fact it is more watchable than the razzamatazz of the Tdf for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it is the lack of OTT hype.

Essex Rouleur

Cav should concentrate on the most stage wins at the TDF now as thats a more realistic target than the green jersey. He wont win a green jersey with Sagan and Kittel knocking about now, because hes too lazy to go for intermediate sprint points, wheras Sagan, Kittel and Griepel will.

Also Cavs lead out train needs to be 100% right up to about 500m out, anything less and he tends to get beat, he's a bit of a one trick pony in that respect, (so is Griepel) whereas Sagan and Kittel can work it for themselves at that range.

Im not knocking Cav, i love the guy, but the young guns want it more, just the same way he did 6 years ago.

I do think he will win the opening stage and be in yellow for stage two at this years race, so looking forward to that.

Mad_Malx

Essex Rouleur wrote:

Cav should concentrate on the most stage wins at the TDF now as thats a more realistic target than the green jersey.

Agree with this

Essex Rouleur wrote:

hes too lazy to go for intermediate sprint points.

Not when he's in contention and wants it - 2013 Giro

Essex Rouleur wrote:

Also Cavs lead out train needs to be 100% right up to about 500m out, anything less and he tends to get beat, he's a bit of a one trick pony in that respect,

Did you watch any of his 2012 Sky season? Not his best, but.....

Richmond Racer

Mad_Malx wrote:

Essex Rouleur wrote:

Cav should concentrate on the most stage wins at the TDF now as thats a more realistic target than the green jersey.

Agree with this

Essex Rouleur wrote:

hes too lazy to go for intermediate sprint points.

Not when he's in contention and wants it - 2013 Giro

Essex Rouleur wrote:

Also Cavs lead out train needs to be 100% right up to about 500m out, anything less and he tends to get beat, he's a bit of a one trick pony in that respect,

Did you watch any of his 2012 Sky season? Not his best, but.....

He was also doing this in the early part of the 2012 Tour, till he'd dropped so many points to Sagan it was a losing battle

As for Cav not winning without a perfect train...how many of his sprints have you actually watched, Essex Rouleur :?:

Essex Rouleur

I pretty much watch all of them and have been for nearly twenty years. Don't shoot the messenger! im not saying Cavs 'sh*te" im simply saying Cav is very specific with his wins and in particular, his lead out trains.

You can talk about his year at Sky and he sometimes had to do it by himself, but the ones that do stand out were the ones he was led out perectly ie: Wiggins leading him in on the TDF 2012, final stage. He sometimes gets luck and onto the right wheels, but for every video you show me of him doing it, i can show you ten more where he's simply given up because things went 'slightly against him'.

Pretty much most of his best wins be it at HTC, SKY, Omega, are nearly always shown with the perfect lead out train. But if you watch Sagan or Kittel, they can break away from their trains if they arent doing that great and take the race on by themselves. You rarely see Cav doing that, not from 30km out. Cav is either 'ON' or "OFF', there is no in between, but with the others you always feel they have that bit in the middle.

If im wrong, then why hasnt he won the green jersey in the past 2 years? you cant have it both ways, if he can do it on his own then why didnt he last year? or the year before?
As i say, im not a Cav hater, the guy lives near me and we've exchanged 'hellos' many a time on rides, but im not blinded by my love of cycling to create a Hollywood Disney view of him either.

I havent been wrong about Gerraint Thomas in the classiscs have i Richmond Racer and i wont be wrong about Cav this year either :-)

RichN95.

Essex Rouleur wrote:

Pretty much most of his best wins be it at HTC, SKY, Omega, are nearly always shown with the perfect lead out train. But if you watch Sagan or Kittel, they can break away from their trains if they arent doing that great and take the race on by themselves. You rarely see Cav doing that, not from 30km out. Cav is either 'ON' or "OFF', there is no in between, but with the others you always feel they have that bit in the middle.

Yet his two biggest wins - the Worlds and Milan-San Remo - were done with no lead out. Also have a look at Stage 5 of the 2011 Tour or Stage 2 in 2012 for examples of what he can do on his own.

Essex Rouleur wrote:

If im wrong, then why hasnt he won the green jersey in the past 2 years?

Because Sagan racks up lots of points in the more mountainous stages and ones that finish on short climbs

Richmond Racer

Thank you Rich

Wot Rich says

Anonymous

right wait, so you're criticising a sprinter for being better when he has a perfect lead out? I mean that's unheard of isn't it? When did Kittel win a race from 30Km out?

Turfle

I genuinely thought the "Cav needs a leadout train" meme had died a well deserved death.

Add Tour de France 2012 stage 18 to Rich's list.

RichN95.

Turfle wrote:

Add Tour de France 2012 stage 18 to Rich's list.

I was going to mention that one, but he did get some team support in the last km so I didn't. Remarkable sprint though

Richmond Racer

RichN95 wrote:

Turfle wrote:

Add Tour de France 2012 stage 18 to Rich's list.

I was going to mention that one, but he did get some team support in the last km so I didn't. Remarkable sprint though

Cue memory of the double take on the part of both Nico and Luis Leon....

ContrelaMontre

2013, Stage 13 - he needed a handsling not a lead out!

Surely this decision is motivated by his experience last year where arguably he would've missed out on yellow even if there hadn't been a crash because he'd got sick on the back of his Giro exertions. I think getting to wear the yellow jumper just once must be a major aim.

frenchfighter

If you win 100 times with a lead out train and 5 times without a lead out train you cant argue that you are A ok without a leadout train.

Just FYI.

RichN95.

frenchfighter wrote:

If you win 100 times with a lead out train and 5 times without a lead out train you cant argue that you are A ok without a leadout train.

Just FYI.

Yes you can. Because the number of races with or without a leadout are not the same. The vast majority of the time he will have a leadout so the number of wins will be far greater (especially as it obviously confers an advantage).
No-one is suggesting he is just as good without a leadout - no sprinter is - just that he can manage without one (more effectively than most of his contemporaries)