Cav to take a break

DeVlaeminck

Taking an indefinite break from cycling due to Epstein Barr virus.

ddraver

Ooooh dear

philbar72

can't say I blame him. that could explain why the team has been at least partially re shaped for next season with Valgren and others coming in.

r0bh

Anyone know how long he is contracted to DD for?

Dorset_Boy

Isn't his contract up this season?
I hope he can get well again and come back for another season or two before retirement.
Will he still ride the London 6 Day?

ocdupalais

DD’s Vuelta victory yesterday couldn’t have come at a better time...

carbonclem

Good timing really, he can comfortably take a total four month break now and then reassess. I guess he wants to return, but I wouldn't be suprised if he knocked it on the head now, hes had an awful last 18 months, lots of kids and his best mate and lead out man has also suffered an awful injury that could also see him finishing. You couldn't blame him for calling it a day - as much as I guess he wouldn't want to finish on such a whimper

Didn't DD announce they were targetting GC in the future?

ocdupalais

According to BBC 6 Music news report on Cav’s illness, “he hasn’t been feeling himself all season”, which will be news to those who’d say Cav is a massive self-feeler.

inseine

Dorset Boy wrote:

Will he still ride the London 6 Day?

I think the ´Taking an indefinite break’ bit answers that question?

cruff

If he ever gets back to something like his best, I still can't see him being the same in sprints. Think Brian Holm says he sees him as a potential Paris-Roubaix winner - I think that's a long shot, but it might be worth him trying to do just the classics season and the tour.

DeVlaeminck

What would his value be, I suppose his name would get invites to races so for a small team looking for exposure he might be worth a punt but would he want to take the likely drop in wages? I suppose a low basic with big win bonuses might suit rider and team?

daninexile

Its no really shock he's had to take a step back. Intxausti still hasn't really returned to racing (I think he may have raced earlier in the season but I've not seen him in any Sky squad since) and he's been suffering since earlier 2016.

Big shame for Cav hopefully he can make it back to some form of competition.

inseine

daninexile wrote:

Its no really shock he's had to take a step back. Intxausti still hasn't really returned to racing (I think he may have raced earlier in the season but I've not seen him in any Sky squad since) and he's been suffering since earlier 2016.

Big shame for Cav hopefully he can make it back to some form of competition.

I hadn't followed that at all. Good on them for keeping him in the squad under the circumstances. Must be tough for all concerned.

kingstonian

Dorset Boy wrote:

Will he still ride the London 6 Day?

Highly unlikely, which means my 9 year old son will be devastated.

Vino'sGhost

Cav has had a few breaks recently............ not many wins though

gweeds

I had this at 15 and it wiped me out for almost 2 years. Really nasty and it hangs on.

I hope he comes back but age and time is against him.

RichN95.

Poor Benat Intxausti has barely finished a race for three years with this

RichN95.

Double post

bm5

Hope he can recover from this and come back in some way to racing.

shirley_basso

So he's finished (racing for the time being)?

takethehighroad

My Man. My main man.

Hopefully he gets the rest he needs and comes back. As he said in his video he must have had form to get a couple of top 10s in the Tour, so if he can get rid of the virus and get the rest he needs here's hoping he will be back next season.

How gutted must the sprinters he beat in the Dubai Tour be feeling knowing he was essentially on one leg

carbonclem

Daniel Friebe said last night he'd spoken to Cav, and that retirement wasn't currently even a consideration. He's talking about the Tour next year, and the Olympics in 2020. He did say though that the Dimension Data contract was over and so he'd be looking for a new team, which could be tricky.

bobmcstuff

CarbonClem wrote:

Daniel Friebe said last night he'd spoken to Cav, and that retirement wasn't currently even a consideration. He's talking about the Tour next year, and the Olympics in 2020. He did say though that the Dimension Data contract was over and so he'd be looking for a new team, which could be tricky.

I assume he's rich enough to get a ride at pro conti by just offering to give them a load of cash? Is that allowed?

ridgerider

Aqua Blue?

philbar72

Ridgerider wrote:

Aqua Blue?

nah. they are gone.

Direct Energie could be a good fit, because they always get in the tour. Would be nice to see him on a decent bike as well #biased

carbonclem

I vaguely wondered if there were a team about with whom he had good enough personal connections (QS with Brian Holm or Sky with Rod E etc) that might give him a notional year contract where he could come back and slot in as and when he's fit enough and take bonus payments? I guess thats harder to accommodate now with smaller WT team sizes reducing flexibility, especially for the Tour.

No_Ta_Doctor

RichN95 wrote:

Poor Benat Intxausti has barely finished a race for three years with this

Poor Benat Exausti.

DeVlaeminck

What about Wanty or something if he did want to have a go at the Classics. Alternatively could he replace Bouhanni at Cofidis?