Professional Cycling For the Fans - Lets talk about Cavendish

He's going to win 6 stages of the 2009 Tour de France, and today's was a truly stunning ride - showing unexpected ability to get over the climb, and then immense power to start his sprint from 400m out and holding off everyone.

Freddy Maertens was the last person to win 6 stages in the Tour, 28 years ago in 1981. What Cavendish is doing as a sprinter might be even more impressive than Contador's domination, Lance's performance as a 37 year old or anything else people have been talking about.

Yeah, he runs his mouth too much. Yeah "Manx Missile" is a horrible nickname. Yeah, he's not going to win the green jersey. All that aside, he's having one of the great all time TdF rides.

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,6722961,00.jpg

He's going to win 6 stages of the 2009 Tour de France, and today's was a truly stunning ride - showing unexpected ability to get over the climb, and then immense power to start his sprint from 400m out and holding off everyone.

Freddy Maertens was the last person to win 6 stages in the Tour, 28 years ago in 1981. What Cavendish is doing as a sprinter might be even more impressive than Contador's domination, Lance's performance as a 37 year old or anything else people have been talking about.

Yeah, he runs his mouth too much. Yeah "Manx Missile" is a horrible nickname. Yeah, he's not going to win the green jersey. All that aside, he's having one of the great all time TdF rides.

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lets say cavendish wins his sixth stage and contador wins the tour.

no doubt a great feat for cavendish and i think he's shown that he doesn't win just because of a superior leadout. whether you like to guy or hate him he is the fastest.

now let's look at contador. if he wins in paris it'll be his fourth GT win, and he's 26. who was the last guy to do that?

http://erader.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p930321662-5.jpg

ed rader

Oh, I agree (and have said many times) that Contador has a chance to go down as one of the all time greats - he's just so good, so young.

I just meant in the context of this Tour alone, Contador and Armstrong have dominated the discussion and coverage, but Cavendish is having a truly remarkable ride as well and that seems to be flying under the radar a bit (and not just in the US). 6 stage wins will be ridiculous.

lets say cavendish wins his sixth stage and contador wins the tour.

no doubt a great feat for cavendish and i think he's shown that he doesn't win just because of a superior leadout. whether you like to guy or hate him he is the fastest.

now let's look at contador. if he wins in paris it'll be his fourth GT win in a row, and he's 26. who was the last guy to do that?

h ttp://erader.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p930321662-5.jpg

ed rader

a guy born with the name of gunderson won 7 GTs in a row.

Oh, I agree (and have said many times) that Contador has a chance to go down as one of the all time greats - he's just so good, so young.

I just meant in the context of this Tour alone, Contador and Armstrong have dominated the discussion and coverage, but Cavendish is having a truly remarkable ride as well and that seems to be flying under the radar a bit (and not just in the US). 6 stage wins will be ridiculous.

a couple of weeks ago it was mark cavendish 24/7. the reason neither of these champs are getting their full props is because of disbelief, disdain and denial........winning races cures all that ;).

ed rader

a guy born with the name of gunderson won 7 GTs in a row.

which? and how old was he after the fourth win?

ed rader

which? and how old was he after the fourth win?

ed rader

is this about age, or winning consecutive GTs?

is this about age, or winning consecutive GTs?

it's about both. my point was cav and contador are both very young which makes the number of wins -- as well as quality of wins -- even that much more special.

with contador you have to factor in that two of the wins -- if he wins this year in paris -- will be TDF wins. also with AC he is one of five cyclists to win all three GTs even before this race.

edit: i've edited this post too.

ed rader

lets say cavendish wins his sixth stage and contador wins the tour.

no doubt a great feat for cavendish and i think he's shown that he doesn't win just because of a superior leadout. whether you like to guy or hate him he is the fastest.

now let's look at contador. if he wins in paris it'll be his fourth GT win in a row, and he's 26. who was the last guy to do that?

http://erader.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p930321662-5.jpg

ed rader

2007 TDF
2008 Giro and Vuelta

Ed I think you are missing something here. You can't take races off and win 4 in a row. I do imagine there was a 2007 Veulta, a 2008 TDF and a 2009 Giro. Seems like he is slacking. His achievements are great no doubt but the way you spin it, you might as well be working for a political party.

Cavendish is good, but I was hoping Farrar would get at least one stage this year.

a guy born with the name of gunderson won 7 GTs in a row.

Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is an American professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Kazakhstan-based UCI ProTeam Astana. He won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999...

2007 TDF
2008 Giro and Vuelta

Ed I think you are missing something here. You can't take races off and win 4 in a row. I do imagine there was a 2007 Veulta, a 2008 TDF and a 2009 Giro. Seems like he is slacking. His achievements are great no doubt but the way you spin it, you might as well be working for a political party.

i meant four in a row that he contested, and i've edited that part out of my post.

ed rader

Cavendish is good, but I was hoping Farrar would get at least one stage this year.

i'll be pulling for farrar on the champs.....:D.

ed rader

Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is an American professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Kazakhstan-based UCI ProTeam Astana. He won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999...

congratulations. :thumb: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Yeah, he wins and wins, but for some reason I'm grow tired of the repetition of it. It's like "Goundhog Day" over and over.

It's nothing personal about Cav . . . I felt the same way when Boonen was dominating . . .or Ale-Jet . . or even Mario. It's the only part of the sport I really don't like too much.

I really like Cav, he inspires me. I generally don't mind his immature attitude because he seems to show so much respect for his team and can back it up with his legs. That being said I was disgusted by what he said to Thor and was happy to see Thor teach the kid a lesson.

As far as Cav not pulling off the green jersey, I don't think it's a big deal. I remember him saying in an interview earlier this year something along the lines of "I'm not mature enough yet to get it"; he apparently was right.

So uh what'd he say to Thor?

Cavendish is 3 hours behind the yellow jersey. I just wonder if someone like Contador (or any other GC contendor) would beat him on stages like today if he was fresh because he didn't even compete in other stages. It kind of limits your competition. Just not a real fan of the green/polka jerseys as anything but filler on boring stages like today. Fun to watch, but not that impressive to me.

As good as Cavendish is, he can't make those goofy sunglasses look cool.

As good as Cavendish is, he can't make those goofy sunglasses look cool.

Like Mario could? :lol: Whatever he wore, he always looked cool.


http://www.bicycling.com/tourdefrance/30moments/16.jpghttp://www.mybigride.com/The_Reincarnation/Roto-Blog/Entries/2008/2/23_Best_cycling_photo_ever_files/shapeimage_1.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_urSQl6wUA5g/R7t1NaqDriI/AAAAAAAABP8/wJ_m9LhAfTI/s400/RRMON_062_MRIII_0399.jpg

congratulations. :thumb: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

got me....and i knew his name was gunderson :roflmao2:!

ed rader

So uh what'd he say to Thor?

Don't quote me but something along the lines of "I hope you can sleep at night because that green jersey is stained". Then Thor promptly checked the little *******.

To me Cav is like that friend we all have and love where you're at a bar or on a group and he's just running his mouth and you turn to him and say "look dude, serously... seriously, shut the **** up."

Cavendish is 3 hours behind the yellow jersey. I just wonder if someone like Contador (or any other GC contendor) would beat him on stages like today if he was fresh because he didn't even compete in other stages. It kind of limits your competition. Just not a real fan of the green/polka jerseys as anything but filler on boring stages like today. Fun to watch, but not that impressive to me.

i wonder if someone like contador could beat cav at milan san remo :D?

ed rader

Cavendish is 3 hours behind the yellow jersey. I just wonder if someone like Contador (or any other GC contendor) would beat him on stages like today if he was fresh because he didn't even compete in other stages. It kind of limits your competition. Just not a real fan of the green/polka jerseys as anything but filler on boring stages like today. Fun to watch, but not that impressive to me.

Just because he is 3 hours behind doesn't mean he didn't have to work hard to drag his sprinter ass over the mountains...

Cav at the end of the tour would still beat a fresh Contador in a sprint and Contador at the end of the tour would still beat a fresh Cav up a climb, it's just how they are built.

If he dropped a few kilo's he may have an easier time in the mountains.

a guy born with the name of gunderson won 7 GTs in a row.

He won 7 TDFs in a row.

lets say cavendish wins his sixth stage and contador wins the tour.

no doubt a great feat for cavendish and i think he's shown that he doesn't win just because of a superior leadout. whether you like to guy or hate him he is the fastest.

now let's look at contador. if he wins in paris it'll be his fourth GT win, and he's 26. who was the last guy to do that?


ed rader

Bernard Hinault, who won the first 4 Grand Tours he entered. Before that Eddy Merckx who had 5 in a row, 6 total while still 26.

I doubt there are any others.

On the 'down' side for Contador he is the only person to win all 3 grand tours and not win the TDF on his first entry!

Just because he is 3 hours behind doesn't mean he didn't have to work hard to drag his sprinter ass over the mountains...

Cav at the end of the tour would still beat a fresh Contador in a sprint and Contador at the end of the tour would still beat a fresh Cav up a climb, it's just how they are built.

Yah, his ability is impressive, I won't deny that. But I just can't mentally separate the individual stages from the whole Tour. If there was 21 separate races in 23 days and he won 5 of them, I'd be impressed. But when they are all connected, I don't see the same value to those wins. Anyways, I do see why others do, so I'm not sure why I keep posting about it:).

Yah, his ability is impressive, I won't deny that. But I just can't mentally separate the individual stages from the whole Tour. If there was 21 separate races in 23 days and he won 5 of them, I'd be impressed. But when they are all connected, I don't see the same value to those wins. Anyways, I do see why others do, so I'm not sure why I keep posting about it:).

You don't have to be impressed if you don't want to be. It takes a different kind of rider to do well overall vs. actually win a stage in a sprint. Personally I'm more impressed by the riders that win in breaks. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that Contador is not winning sprint finishes because he is less "fresh" than everyone else.

Yah, his ability is impressive, I won't deny that. But I just can't mentally separate the individual stages from the whole Tour. If there was 21 separate races in 23 days and he won 5 of them, I'd be impressed. But when they are all connected, I don't see the same value to those wins. Anyways, I do see why others do, so I'm not sure why I keep posting about it:).

what about milan san remo this year? c'mon man give the kid some credit :D!

ed rader

a guy born with the name of gunderson won 7 GTs in a row.

incorrect

incorrectwhoosh.

incorrect

Yeah, in order to win 7 GTs in a row you'd have to win at least two Giros and two Vueltas along the way.