"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - How would you beat Cavendish?

Here's your chance to be an armchair DS. Pick a team in the Tour, what's your strategy?

Me, I'd take Cancellara on a flyer after a hot setup by Jens.

Feed Tyler Farrar loads and loads of EPO, CERA, and little 8 oz cans of Coca-Cola.

hire Hincapie and Renshaw

Hire the cinzano guys.

read BF

:popcorn:

Break away.

How would you beat Cavendish?

What did Tonya Harding's bodyguard use on Nancy Kerrigan?

With a rubber hose that would leave no marks.

I might beat him in arm wrestling. That's about it.

you people are hopeless.

http://i.eprci.net/picard-facepalm

With a rubber hose that would leave no marks.


Yeah I think right now that's about the only way to beat this guy. On our Sat training ride I joked about how it must suck to be Tyler right now...to be one of the best sprinters in the world but to come into bike racing when a phenom like Cav is on the scene.

Garmin needs somebody like svein tuft instead of the wimpy climber boys to lead tyler out..

With a hammer, duh!

you people are hopeless.

http://i.eprci.net/picard-facepalm


Not you too with the :facepalm:?

Oh jeeze.

http://www.fallen-legion.eu/news/data/upimages/DoubleFacePalm.jpg

Let me be the first to preempt:

http://thumbs.roflposters.com/images/rofl/thumbs/1222219525990.jpg.thumb.jpg
http://bum.net/pics/facepalm3.jpg

like ale jet did in the giro. be one of the fastest men in the world, be on his wheel, jump first, go like hell, hope the line gets to me before he does.

Let me be the first to preempt:

http://thumbs.roflposters.com/images/rofl/thumbs/1222219525990.jpg.thumb.jpg
http://bum.net/pics/facepalm3.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3449024616_267b982972.jpg

Dammit, you're supposed to add a palm!

http://regmedia.co.uk/2008/01/22/you_fail.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oOmMOV34Tbk/SLnGUaxSVyI/AAAAAAAAAVc/Wc6kmDNzppg/s400/5+palms.jpg

You are all far too competitive. Relax.

Not you gsteinb, you keep hammering.

At least that sailboat's going back to the topic! :)

I feel bad; I missed the sprint. How epic was it?

With a longer sprint.

hire Hincapie and Renshaw

I don't think that would help...Cav has that extra gear that Tyler is lacking..maybe not a full gear but at least a half a gear. Cav isn't just pipping these guys at the line he's bike lengths clear of them.

ok you people. it seems you have given up. that is not the American way. did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Nooooooooo.

Petacchi beat him with an early jump and maybe just a hint of crowding.
I didn't see the video of Boonen's or Farrar's wins, anybody got a link?

It can be done.

I think part of the problem is the other teams are letting Columbia be the train. As long as Cav gets that Renshaw leadout, yeah he's gonna win. I think you have to either run a parallel train of your own, or distrupt Columbia's train (ethically and legally somehow such as an attack)

ok you people. it seems you have given up. that is not the American way. did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Nooooooooo.

Petacchi beat him with an early jump and maybe just a hint of crowding.
I didn't see the video of Boonen's or Farrar's wins, anybody got a link?

It can be done.

I think part of the problem is the other teams are letting Columbia be the train. As long as Cav gets that Renshaw leadout, yeah he's gonna win. I think you have to either run a parallel train of your own, or distrupt Columbia's train (ethically and legally somehow such as an attack)

Germans? I thought it was the Canadians.

ok you people. it seems you have given up. that is not the American way. did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Nooooooooo.

Petacchi beat him with an early jump and maybe just a hint of crowding.
I didn't see the video of Boonen's or Farrar's wins, anybody got a link?

It can be done.

I think part of the problem is the other teams are letting Columbia be the train. As long as Cav gets that Renshaw leadout, yeah he's gonna win. I think you have to either run a parallel train of your own, or distrupt Columbia's train (ethically and legally somehow such as an attack)

Yes he's beatable but not consistently. Cav is just faster 90% of the time. Period. Look give the Brits their day in the sun, they don't get many in road racing. The thing about being the top sprinter is that you can get knocked off that perch pretty quickly. Next year or the year after another guy could come along and be the 'man'.

http://i28.tinypic.com/2gv68pg.jpg

:thumb:

ok you people. it seems you have given up. that is not the American way. did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Nooooooooo.

Petacchi beat him with an early jump and maybe just a hint of crowding.
I didn't see the video of Boonen's or Farrar's wins, anybody got a link?

It can be done.

I think part of the problem is the other teams are letting Columbia be the train. As long as Cav gets that Renshaw leadout, yeah he's gonna win. I think you have to either run a parallel train of your own, or distrupt Columbia's train (ethically and legally somehow such as an attack)

I agree. They're giving him the perfect set up for the sprint, not challenging the train. Reminds of Cipolinni & Saeco. Though the red train did look cooler. Part of it is the strength of the team and the ability to control a finish; if Columbia is able to dictate the end of the stage, no I don't think Cav is beatable right now.

With a longer sprint.

:innocent:

kilo

Cancellara is a good candidate if you can wind up a leadout from 2k.

If I were actually a DS I would view this as a math problem, almost like those stupid word problems in middle school ("if a train leaves Chicago at 1pm and another train leaves..." etc).

Cav has proven over and over again that when he jumps, he's going to go 1-2mph faster than everyone else. Therefore, anyone behind him when he jumps is racing for first loser. The other teams have got to find a way to get someone ahead of him before he hits that 250m mark, period.

As armchair DS, I'd say it's time to get inventive (what's left to lose?). Maybe a combo of attack/counter from 5k and then 1-2k to go, anything disruptive could open the door. Columbia does the same thing everytime, and they're freakin good at it, but their consistency also makes them predictable

I don't see it happening consistently until another team fully commits to beating him. To me it seems like everyone tells their sprinter, "get on cav's wheel and then drive out of his draft." It is not happening, he is just faster. Like PhillyRoadie said, you have to disrupt the leadout train.

I agree. They're giving him the perfect set up for the sprint, not challenging the train. Reminds of Cipolinni & Saeco. Though the red train did look cooler. Part of it is the strength of the team and the ability to control a finish; if Columbia is able to dictate the end of the stage, no I don't think Cav is beatable right now.

yes. way cooler. cipo would have crushed cavendish right back to the track.

I heart Super Mario.

http://thehalobender.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/nancy_kerrigan_biography_2.jpg

What's not to heart? Cipo was outrageous and fun. Cav's sprint is deadly, but you've got to love Cipo's panache.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1340000/images/_1340008_cipollini_afp150.jpg

I don't see it happening consistently until another team fully commits to beating him. To me it seems like everyone tells their sprinter, "get on cav's wheel and then drive out of his draft." It is not happening, he is just faster. Like PhillyRoadie said, you have to disrupt the leadout train.


I don't know I get the feeling that Cav has a bit of McEwen in him..use other teams and still out kick a Boonen or Ali Jet. I really want to see someone beat the cockiness out this kid but unfortunately I don't see it happening soon...if only Robbie was 10 years younger, man that would be a war.

kilo

Cancellara is a good candidate if you can wind up a leadout from 2k.

Dunno. Cavendish has leadout men who I am sure are pretty good at the kilo themselves... You need a team to beat Cavendish (he's got a team himself), and I don't think there is another team in the tour right now built quite right for the job.

Though putting a mountain or two somewhere in the stage seems to get ride of him pretty effectively ;).

I thing Phil Liggett hinted at a clue. You cant let him lead the sprints. Teams have to get there trains and sprinters ahead of Columbia's. The flaw in Phil's thinking is that there are no other teams that can or want to do so. So I guess we better get used to watching The Manx Missile take out the sprint wins for the next few years.

You know Cipo had the same thing going for him during his peak years. No other teams could get there trains ahead of his train.

i second the rubber hose

i second the rubber hose

700x32c rubber hose.

Call up every other DS (except for Columbia) and agree to each send at least one guy up the road in a breakaway. Also agree not to take part in any chase to bring them back. Force Columbia to do all the chasing and be tired for the leadout if they succeed.

I thing Phil Liggett hinted at a clue. You cant let him lead the sprints. Teams have to get there trains and sprinters ahead of Columbia's. The flaw in Phil's thinking is that there are no other teams that can or want to do so. So I guess we better get used to watching The Manx Missile take out the sprint wins for the next few years.

You know Cipo had the same thing going for him during his peak years. No other teams could get there trains ahead of his train.

I agree (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=9278441#post9278441) :thumb:

Call up every other DS (except for Columbia) and agree to each send at least one guy up the road in a breakaway. Also agree not to take part in any chase to bring them back. Force Columbia to do all the chasing and be tired for the leadout if they succeed.

what if columbia puts a guy in the break?

Dunno. Cavendish has leadout men who I am sure are pretty good at the kilo themselves... You need a team to beat Cavendish (he's got a team himself), and I don't think there is another team in the tour right now built quite right for the job.

Though putting a mountain or two somewhere in the stage seems to get ride of him pretty effectively ;).

Very true, there just isn't much of a winning formula against Columbia in the sprints right now. The thing is that if you force them to play their kilo card a kilo early, it might leave no leadout guys left to take cav in. If they could get Cancellara out with a gap from a kilo, it would be really tough for anyone to bring him back.

The thing is, why would they? Saxo isn't looking for green, and they want to save up for the mountain support and the TTs.

Very true, there just isn't much of a winning formula against Columbia in the sprints right now. The thing is that if you force them to play their kilo card a kilo early, it might leave no leadout guys left to take cav in. If they could get Cancellara out with a gap from a kilo, it would be really tough for anyone to bring him back.

The thing is, why would they? Saxo isn't looking for green, and they want to save up for the mountain support and the TTs.

There's the rub! Also why Tyler doesn't have much of a leadout train. He's secondary to the overall plans.

Make Cavendish hitch on somebody else's train. Nobody is going to pass him so make him sprint from further back.

lead1-lead2-you-sweeper-Cav

easier said than done of course.

Cav is a beast and he has a team built around him. I agree with YMCA: destroy his leadout team and you might have a chance.

There is on other way, though. If Saxo and Garmin pool forces they might have a chance in a one time deal: Fabian leading Farrar out from 2K. That might work one time.

what if columbia puts a guy in the break?

Then the break stays away, right? Now, in fantasy land, if Cavendish made it into the break, they'd all be screwed. I suppose they could try to pop him off though...

Then the break stays away, right? Now, in fantasy land, if Cavendish made it into the break, they'd all be screwed. I suppose they could try to pop him off though...

If Cav was in the break then it would be reeled in ASAP by every other team.

Ah, good point.