No Cav at TOB !

Are they scared of wierdo's on the BR forum with their testosterone gel?

It probably is that the US race is more important to them as an American sponsor

He'll definately win them some stages.

Perhaps Cav is bitter that his only medal option was the madison where as he could've maybe got one elsewhere?

deal wrote:

Cavendish has every right to be pissed, looked to be in great shape himself but not given the 2nd individual pursuit spot so he could be fresh for the Madison, ends up not getting a medal due to being stuck with a partner in Wiggins who is too tired to mount any kind of challenge - the man who previously rode both the team and individual pursuit - the need to go into the Madison fresh aparently did not extend to Wiggins.

I think Cavendish has every right to be bitter over his treatment by British Cycling.

wiggins did the triple earlier in the year at the worlds so the team selection in hindsight didn't look that unreasonable

the fact wiggins couldn't perform that day is one of things

thats cycling.. who else manning ... newton... maybe?

I wonder will Wiggo be going to a new team next year....

im gonna stick my neck out here... I reckon Wiggo will be riding on a cervelo next year.... He isnt exactly a brilliant road rider.. and save for a few 2nd or thirds here and there in TTs, the guy may now a problem for the team's ace publicity rider Cav

iainf72 wrote:

Cavendish interview today was revealing - "Beijing wasn't my job. This is my job". My dislike of Cav is softening a bit - I like the fact he's acting like a professional and realising riding on a wooden oval isn't that exciting.

Yeah Iain I say that interview tonight and thought Mmm don't think he'll be going to the Brailsford road team somehow. He looks tired though and the great Sean said as much. BTW Is Sean REALLY that tall or is Gary Imlach tiny?

May be reading to much into this.

British racing public want to see cav but the wider british public only care about Beijing medal winners and will wonder why Chris Hoy is not riding :?
So from columbia stand point they can win Big PR selling Wiggins as Olympic medalist and over in US sell cav as fastes man ona bike/ 4 tour stages etc.
Columbia is a US team and need to use there biggest asset there, outside Cav they have hincapie but he will not captiavte public like cav.

Also we all know cav feels (rightly so you could add) that he is not appreciated in UK for his achievements in Tour. Easily up there with a multi-medal perf in olympics.

Kléber wrote:

His sprint is phenomenal. I'm normally bored by the sprinters, I want a breakaway to leave me in suspense all the way to the finish line but the power and skill of this guy is just something very special. The way he smoked the field four times in the Tour de France was just phenomenal. Granted, Boonen and Pettachi were out for inhaling the wrong things but that's their problem and he's still a kid learning the ropes at times.

But what happens when this carries on and on and on and on - It's got to the point where you know if it comes to a sprint he's going to win. His positioning is getting better and he's getting good at making a bit of room for himself.

It could make the sprints even more boring than they usually are.

Hadnt thought of things that way before. In a very competitive sport Cav wins four stages of teh tour de france, doubling the previous best by a Briton. In an arguably less competitive sport someone wins three gold medals (all in similar events) - he is put up for sports personality while cavendish isnt even mentioned. Ok, so it does say sports personality but ive never seen anyone partially nominated for their charity work

EDIT: For all this talk of a rift between Cav and Wiggins - Wiggins did a lot of work for Cav in the Giro - would he have got his wins if Wiggins hadnt been there? Maybe Cav will be more forgiving than may otherwise be thought. Also, when was the last moment that the madison team could have been changed? Did it have to be decided a long time before or could it be decided on the day? If they had trained a lot together then maybe the people in charge thought it was better if they give it a go rather than an untried combination?

I hope we are maybe reading too much into the Cav/Wiggins spat. Clearly they work well together in the Madison when on fresh legs, and on the road Wiggins does help to get Cav up there at the end. Cav is always very generous with praise for his team - he knows he couldnt do it alone.

Kléber wrote:

Road cycling is never that predictable plus we might also have a sub plot, the soap opera of Greipel, Ciolek and Boasson Hagen all thinking "I can sprint too".

I seem to recall during the TdF that Cav himself said words to the effect that having Ciolek nearby in sprint finishes gave Columbia a "Plan B" option rather than him bearing all the onus of bagging the team's wins on the flatter stages.

David

Kléber wrote:

You can win Olympic gold but you're lucky if you end up on a box of Frosties

Errr....

My hunch is that both riders were tired. In that race how many laps did they gain? None. How many sprint points? Not many. Prbably Bradley was fatigued from his efforts in the pursuit and team pursuit and Mark from the TdeF and post tour crits. It was a cock up. The riders and Team GB will learn from this

claudb wrote:

It is now reported that Cav is going to the Tour of Missouri - http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/No_Cavendish_at_2008_Tour_of_Britain_article_266458.html
What's going on here, can Cav not ride in the same team as Wiggins ??
Is there some muck in here somewhere hanging over from Beijing ??
What's the 'Bitterness' about the Madison that Cav mentioned post-stage yesterday ??

good,we wont have to put up with his greetin'faced puss on whatever telly highlights there are of the TOB

emadden wrote:

I wonder will Wiggo be going to a new team next year....

haahaaa says he tapping the side of his nose :P