Professional Cycling For the Fans - Mark Cavendish vs Alessandro Petacchi vs Mario Cipollin

the rationale is that he is remarkably inconsistent. he's won 3 world championships
but disappeared for huge chunks of the season (sometimes due to injury, sometimes
due to???). he'll bunny-hop a curb to gain a tdf stage-winning advantage but not be in
the mix for a week or more afterwards. climbs pretty well for a sprinter and can
mix it up in the classics. friere is like water; he can batter down a concrete wall
or slip down the drain. as soon as you bet against him, he'll make you look like a
fool. as soon as you bet on him to win the green jersey...

Historical comparisons are always difficult. Cav is the best around today. I don't much like his attitude, but I give him and Renshaw credit for the amazing win on the Champs Elyses. The speed that they took that final bend was frightening and the margin of victory stunning.

Cavendish won't be content with stage wins in the big Tours..... but he might have a whole lot more of them in his palmares, before he's done.

Having won at San Remo so young, he has the taste for Classic immortality- and Zabel's tutelage won't be hurting that ambition.

generally not much of a petacchi fan as it seems he was only able to achieve
superstar status once the fasso bortolo train became the unquestionably best leadout .
after watching some of the old grand tour videos though, i do have a little bit more
respect for him than i did. there were a handful of instances where he had to go from
waaayyyy out without the train and managed to hold off his rivals for victory. he may
have needed more help than others or not been the best tactician but seems like he
had/has the ability to hold that high-end speed for longer distances than most.

In your rating so sprinters, you missed one, Graeme Brown. His 3-4' lateral shift in the last 200 meters usually drops one or two competitors. His zig-zag style usually gets someone hurt, and sometimes he wins. If Landis can ride for OUCH, Graeme should ride for OOPS.

Zabel is a star, Cipo brought Panache, Petacchi really touted the lead-out train concept, McEwen (i think)hides in the back pocket of someone elses jersey until the last 200 meters and then miraculously shows up. Cavendish needs a superstar or two to compete with in their prime. Who will that be??

generally not much of a petacchi fan as it seems he was only able to achieve
superstar status once the fasso bortolo train became the unquestionably best leadout .
after watching some of the old grand tour videos though, i do have a little bit more
respect for him than i did. there were a handful of instances where he had to go from
waaayyyy out without the train and managed to hold off his rivals for victory. he may
have needed more help than others or not been the best tactician but seems like he
had/has the ability to hold that high-end speed for longer distances than most.
He jumped the Columbia train in the Giro this year, very impressive sprint.



Zabel is a star, Cipo brought Panache, Petacchi really touted the lead-out train concept, McEwen (i think)hides in the back pocket of someone elses jersey until the last 200 meters and then miraculously shows up. Cavendish needs a superstar or two to compete with in their prime. Who will that be??
Somebody who understands. Every great athlete needs a foil to be an all-time great. Boonen will do if he cleans up his act.

Cipo's Lead out, "The Cannondale Train" was a sight to see. All 8 peeling off in perfect order. I remember guys on Cipo's wheel trying to pull out and pass him. They'd hit a wall of air and just stop as Cipo road away. Commentators said that the speed that Mario held was so fast that in his draft you could keep pace, but once out, nobody could match his power.
Mario was 6'2" and 175 lbs. BIG Sprinter.
Mark is 5'9" and 150 lbs and
Petacchi is 6'1" and 160 lbs.

Nothing beats cubic inches!

I think Cavendish might have one more dominating year. I don't see him winning more than 3 stages next year. I think people are catching on to his aggressive pushing tactics and people will find ways of catching the Renshaw train and taking advantage. Without Renshaw, Cav would win far less. Renshaw is a master at lead-out. If Cav has to start making a living by going further out, he'll start to lose to people like Hushovd and even Ferrar who don't have the jets, but have more power.

Cavendish's arrogance doesn't bother me, mostly because I hear talk about how much his team means to him more then him. Every time I hear him talk about winning its for his team, and saying he couldn't do it without those other guys, and his team is simply amazing at getting him into position. I really liked his attitude during the tour this year and watching his team work together with him.

I think he's a great sprinter, but I wasn't keen on how he kept boxing people out. I think Ferrar would have won one on him if not for a subtle one. I know it's part of sprinting, but his theatrics when he almost twice boxed Huschovd into the boards and was relegated to the back... He knows he was wrong and anyone looking at the replays could see what he was doing. He should have rolled with it better rather than be so offended when it was all his fault anyway.

Cavi wasnt spritning against anyone special.

Zabel, McEwen, Steels, Cipo, O'Grady, and a bunch of other really good sprinters were all battling it out

I believe this pretty much makes his arrogance a fact rather than opinion or point of view. However I do like how his first thought after his victories are to find and thank his teammates.



EVERY SINGLE ONE of his interviews he always says things like: "It was very easy for me to win", or "I made a bet with everyone with 10K to go that I would win because Im just that good" or "it was too easy to win, im just faster than everyone else".

Cavi wasnt spritning against anyone special.

Zabel, McEwen, Steels, Cipo, O'Grady, and a bunch of other really good sprinters were all battling it out

While I agree with you, Cav was awefully fast, especially in Paris.