Is it over for Cavendish.....?
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.....I mean as a dominant force in sprinting...one win this Tour and he didn't look close really today,and with Kittel to come back sometime soon presumably..people with greater knowledge than me can maybe see things I don't that suggest otherwise...but just wondering.
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I don't think he's finished, but he'll won't be the dominant force he once was.
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Depends what you judge to be a proper stage. He already holds the record for most TDF race stage wins. Merckx is ahead because of TTs only.
Renshaw being absent isn't a negative.
Griepel has benefited from Kittel's absence. I would place the order as Kittel > Griepel > Cavendish > Everyone else
I will be interested to see what Cav does in the future. I would like to see him redefine himself as a different type of rider, but I'm not sure what that should be.
The implication being that these are somehow easier and less worthy? Jeez!
I like Cavendish but I hope he doesn't beat Merckx's record as he's just a sprinter.
maybe he needs to work harder - Greipel and Kittel always turn up ripped to the bone but with Cav we are always checking for the size of his paunch
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Having said that I still think he's behind Kittel and other teams take the sprints far more seriously these days. In his pomp it was his train and maybe one other, now it's 4 or 5 teams vying for position.
Hope he doesn't re-up with EQS, think he needs to be in a smaller team that give him his full attention, like Highroad did.
It might be my imagination but do race organisers prefer a bit of a lumpier sprint stage now so with more uphill drag finishes? I prefer these as there is the prospect of not all the sprinters making it to the finish together and if they do some being a bit more tired therefore making things a bit more uncertain.
Plus he guarantees headlines/exposure so you'd be getting your moneys worth, even if he doesn't perform.
As others have said I've wondered if he could turn himself into another sort of rider, maybe like Thor Husvold and see if he could become a rider for PR or the classics. Does he want to do that or just stay a sprinter and then maybe drop down the order and become a lead out man.
His train has been poor, his decision making (no doubt caused by the poor train or did that crash last year take something from him) has looked a little off too. But the biggest factor seems to be that he has lost weight. I'm sure this was done given the profile this year, but clearly it's cost him a few watts. You only have to look through Cav's history, some of his positioning in the final has been sublime, it really is an art form that seems to get overlooked.
So tactically he needs to get back to his best, maybe add a kilo or 2 back on and see what happens.
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I think Etix have shown their future intention with the signing of Fernando Gavira who outsprinted Cav in the Tour de San Luis earlier this year.
If Cav re-signs he will be the protected Sprinter in the 2016 TdF while Gavira is riding the Olympics but it 2017 I see Gavira being where they concentrate their sprinting efforts
He's had three years since then! You can't blame his form this year on his training in 2012, it just doesn't work like that.
True, and that year was specifically to enable him to get over the box hil loop, and be able to contest the final sprint that never materialised in the olympics as well as get him over the hills in the tour 2012, I still remember the stage 18 which he would never have won if he'd have been as he was before....
He's always been able to put out 1500 watts ish for 15 or so seconds, which is what marks him out as special, as he can do it in a super aero manner. Greipel and Kittel are more powerful, but also much larger and far less aero.
IMHO, it's a pity that Sky sauntered across the line rather than put a lineout to put Luke Rowe in the mix for the finish - he may not have won, but it would've contributed to the specacle.
He's not had a year as good as that since he joined EQS. EQS are the problem, not Sky
I think that was down to the stray McDonald's carrier bag that got caught in Froome's rear wheel. Not saying they'd have led out for a sprint but it's the reason they were so far back.
Makes sense now. He was just using the Tour as prep.