Iride01 

I haven't looked real closely but it amazes me the power Cav has compared to others in the recent sprint finishes. He appears to be accelerating and blowing by others while they are already at a higher cadence and yet he is at a lower cadence.

Is that just a statement of how much power he brings with him and he is capable of pushing a bigger ratio to accelerate or is it just that the others have already worn themselves out because they went too soon and have shifted to a lower ratio.

Thoughts?

Eric F

Cav is in excellent form and seems to be a step better/faster/stronger than his current rivals. He's also a savvy and experienced sprinter who plays the game really well. It might look very different if Ewan was still in the race.

gregf83 

Cav has the best team supporting him with the number one leadout man Morkov and for some inexplicable reason has been sprinting against Alpecin's #2 sprinter. I think his power is down considerably from his prime but he's still savvy enough to win. It's a shame Ewan isn't here as the finishes would be closer.

MinnMan

Also, van Aert hasn't been a factor in the sprint finishes this year, though he was fearsome in 2020. With Roglic out of the GC picture, that may change.

surak

Hasn't Cav shown that power isn't everything in winning throughout his career? The story goes that he wouldn't have even made team selection when he was younger because his power numbers were underwhelming. When you hear him dissect the sprint after winning, it's clear he's using his experience and knack to get to the line first. It's not just that he has the most power among the sprinters.

And in both his 31st and 32nd wins, his leadout has been much diminished well before the finish. They've been able to keep him out of trouble but not been there to drop him off at the last, best moment for an easy cruise to victory. They had to chase down the break for #31, were slower than Alpecin-Fenix's train and Morkov bailed early (to avoid being boxed in by them, according to Lanterne Rouge) for #32. Cav did the rest himself. It's more impressive than the perfect leadouts that DQT managed earlier in the year for him and Bennett.

dmanthree

He's really amazing, but I just HOPE he's riding clean. Coming back after such a long time away and doing what he's doing will more than likely raise suspicions.

surak

Edit: just a Cav thread so deleting the post about others.

Cav's come back from injury and illness, and at least lack of belief in/from his previous teams (who wanted him to lose weight) and in his equipment. Is that enough to regain his form without illicit aids? No idea, but at least one other sprinter -- Marcel Kittel -- said that he still had his power numbers when he retired, but just not the will anymore.

MinnMan

Epstein-Barr is a b$itch. I know people who've had it. Like surak said, we have no way of knowing all the details, but the story of recovery from illness is at least a coherent narrative.

gpsblake

From what I understand, Cav had to practically beg to be included with his team for this years Tour de France. But at his age, this is an amazing comeback.

surak

Nope. Cav wasn't planning to be in it even a week before the Tour, but Sam Bennett had a knee injury that kept him off the roster (his decision, by accounts). Then Cav didn't want to do the Tour because it wasnt worth the physical demands (assuming he tried to survive the time cuts as deep into the 3 weeks as possible) on a minimum contract when he'd not raced anything nearly as difficult. Did he secretly hope he'd be selected, probably, but nowhere did any begging happen except from the press begging him to talk about Merckx's stage win record.

Flip Flop Rider

Cav again!

rumrunn6

on day 2 of a migraine headache, not sure how much I can watch right now. what obstruction is blocking a climb?

MinnMan

hat trick.

And he's not wrong here - DQS rules these finishes.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/to...ge-10/results/

Eric F

Victory designed and delivered with perfect execution.

slcbob

Yes. The wolf pack was wolfing it up, just like Rudyard Kipling drew it up.

surak

I don't know how often it happens, but Cav's max speed in the final 500m was lower than Morkov's. Not pointing this out to cheapen today's win (DQT even retweeted that fact), just showing how strong and close to perfection the leadout was.

Eric F

That makes for a very effective leadout when the sprinters can't go faster than the speed of the train.

Iride01 

Have not seen todays race, but does it seem to any of you that Cavendish's cadence is notably slower for the speed and acceleration he is still doing compared to others he is charging past?

I'd bet his chains don't last long.

MixedRider

Cav has always been a pretty emotional rider. The tour of Turkey earlier in the year gave him a tonne of confidence! With barely making the team after Sam Bennet could not continue gave him the "got nothing to lose" mentality he needed. Then after a couple stage wins and the Green Jersey right now, his mental willingness to make the time cut-off on stage 9 demonstrated he really wants to win the Champs-Elysees this year (and... dare i say it... possibly tie the stage win record)! I for one am rooting for him!

MinnMan

That's an interesting thought. Might the peloton "gift" him the 21st stage to give him the record?

Eric F

If I recall correctly, he prefers to use a larger-than-usual chainring (55T).

Homebrew01

Nope

canklecat

Cavendish has been giving all the praise to his team. He does have a top notch leadout train. But he's also more humble and gracious than I've seen in him before. But his ability to read the timing and openings is critical. He studies video of other races a lot to see where he can improve.

TBH, I never really liked Cav much before. The younger Cav seemed arrogant, snippy, often recklessly causing other people to crash, and taking ridiculous chances and then blaming everyone else when it backfired and he crashed. It's possible I was just misreading his passion for the sport and tendency to be emotional. Sometimes stuff gets taken out of context in the press, especially when the cycling press follows the Italian polemica approach toward reporting on cycling.

I don't know who this Cavendish guy is in the 2021 TdF, but I admire him.

I'm betting he'll make a great trainer, coach or directeur sportif if he wants to go that route.

Sorry to hear that. I've had migraines, cluster headaches and/or trigeminal neuralgia since I was a kid. Sucks. If you don't already have an emergency relief prescription for a migraine in progress, I can suggest a few OTC remedies, and one inexpensive and easily obtainable prescription med that work for me.

Some folks get relief from blood pressure meds, especially metoprolol or other beta blockers. When it's bad enough I'll take a metoprolol and lisinopril. I don't need 'em for BP, just for migraine relief.

In non-prescription stuff, I often find my worst headaches are triggered by sinus congestion. Real Sudafed can help. It's gotta be pseudoephedrine, not the substitute phenylephrine.

Melatonin and GABA (an amino acid supplement) can help too.

MinnMan

Maybe he has the ONLY leadout train? Has anybody seen any other organized team leadouts in this tour? The onyl other one I've seen was Alpecin Fenix, and 2 of the 3 participants (Merlier, MvdP) are no longer in the race.

canklecat

Yup, the carnage of those early crashes wiped out pretty much all strategy for some other teams.

If not for Cav's outstanding leadout train, he wouldn't be a factor in this TdF, and he'd probably say as much. I'm not sure Cav has the knack for improvising a makeshift "leadout train" the way Sagan does when he's on form.

It'd be like ye olden dayes, like the finish of the '89 worlds, with LeMond, Fignon, Kelly, Konyshev, Rooks and Claveyrolat battling over the last couple of miles. None of them real sprinters, but no real sprinter could do what they did over that distance. Nowadays, that's the strength of Alaphilippe, Van der Poel, Wout van Aert and that pesky Pogacar kid who seems to be everywhere all the time.