Originally Posted by
wxduff
I think the true questions is: Without the lead-out train how good is Cavendish?
He's one of the best, but as an individual he just isn't dominant. I'd give him top speed, but it seems to me the likes of Goss and Griepel have him beat in the Acceleration department. Put Cav on a team who doesn't surround him and he wouldn't be the same.
I'm sure I'll catch flack for this but thats my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Of course he wouldn't be the same without a team to support him. Who would? But as he has already demonstrated in this year's tour, and several times in last year's, he can win in scrappy finishes as well as when HTC have the lead-out sorted. Saying he isn't dominant seems at odds with the fact that he has won more stages in the last three years Tours than all the other sprinters put together. Not a bad statistic. Nobody wins every time.