Originally Posted by
Yaniel
he's proven he doesn't need that train. he's just on another level speed wise.
Two people have said this but more often than not he has a train leading him out and he is hit or miss without it. I'm inclined to not argue about this because after Renshaw was verboten and the train couldn't string out the group enough that it caused a lot of mess around setting up sprinters, Cavendish still came out on top.
On the other hand, having a lead out train most of the time gives the guy a lot of confidence and that's a good chunk of performance. Tyler Ferrar (sp?) let himself get muscled out of a couple sprints, had bad luck in the first (someone's bike attached itself to his), or confused his lead out rider enough they couldn't separate when it came time to go.
Cavendish answered this question last year in an interview. "Who are you most worried about in the sprints?" To his reply "Noone.". I'm not saying he's not good but he doesn't have a good arch rival to say he is really great. I love Cavendish's snob attitude and I root for him because he at least has a little humility (crying on stage 6's win).