Alright, this deserves its own thread. Number 35 !!! One cool thing here is Vino took the gold medal that Cav was eyeing for at London 2012, and Vino gave Cav this chance at Astana
Alright, this deserves its own thread. Number 35 !!! One cool thing here is Vino took the gold medal that Cav was eyeing for at London 2012, and Vino gave Cav this chance at Astana
Was a masterclass in patience and moving through the pack…team went all-in today and it paid off.
Very happy for him.
Watching the replay of the overhead was just amazing. No idea how he has the instinct to surf which wheels at which moment at 70kph (or thereabouts)
SPOILER
…can’t wait to watch the replay later. Another Cav masterclass it appears.
SPOILER
…can’t wait to watch the replay later. Another Cav masterclass it appears.
Well the Economist is talking about Le Pen today in France
others are talking about water in the Seine, and most importantly we got Ronaldo vs Mbappe in the France vs Portugal Euro clash that everyone is buzzing about.
Lots going on in France
I got caught out by this being a main TV news lead story. I’m normally safe until I get to see the replay but a story like this (rightly) escaped the sports headlines and leaked into the bit I didn’t mute.
But this is awesome. Not just for Cav on the obvious level, but as a story that goes wider than the cycling community into mainstream population. And for those that have heard Cav speaking about his mental health in the past then I think this is huge for his ability to find peace in the next phase of his life. And a prime example of the value of persistence. How many times in his career had he been written off?
And my mind is currently thinking of the local club race he turned up to 6 months ago. Signed on with everyone else in the hall, did the ride then dropped back in the last few kms so as not to influence the result. All those young riders that got to ride, be coached and now be able to tell everyone every time they go in pub/club that they beat Cav. He’s got the record for most stage wins, but his contribution to cycling at grass roots and his contribution as a human is for me the real measure of him, and ironically not something that changed today.
But the main question is how long before someone claims motor doping noting that his chain wasn’t even on…
See lead picture - TdF stage 5 report: Cavendish gets his win - Escape Collective
Amazing win from Cav, but holy moly that bunnyhop from Axel Zingle was insane!
Cav’s wife and son called George Hincapie today and you can hear their excitement here:
Wonder if he can pick up more wins now, I’m surprised at how easy it was for him.
I’ve got a bet on that Cav, Pidcock and Adam Yeats all get a stage win, 1 down, 2 to go!
I think in the end the last 50m were unrepresentative of just how hard it was for him to get that win today. It had everything - a lead out that started +40km from the finish in an organised fashion. Then the last 3km huge amounts of tactical awareness as well as team power. Then in last 1km was a mix of instinct, strategy, experience, power and luck.
Ironically last year when his chain was skipping the stage before his crash then it would have been a similar situation where he made his decisive kick and he’d have been out in front by far enough it was won 50m out. Instead in that case he couldn’t get that gap and so he lost out.
And I agree with Yates. I’m undecided on Pidcock. I would have said he was most likely of the 3 pre tour, but after he faded yesterday on what was a stage pretty much made for him I’m not sure. The only thing going for him is if Jonas isn’t in form to attack Pogacar and so the GC aren’t interested in getting their teams to set a crazy pace up some of the climbs next week. I’m also thinking he’s not going to be interested in doing too much in the final week so close to the olympics. I thought this week was his chance then perhaps do some mixes of domestique next week and abandon early once the GC was clear unless Ineos had a real contender that needed him to earn his pay all the way to the finish.
Id have thought Pidcock would have been let loose to go for a stage win at some point, it’s Yeats I can’t see getting a stage win, too much domestic duties, maybe he’ll be that far down on GC towards the end and Pog that much ahead he’ll slip in a break or something.
What is Pidcock racing in in the Olympics?
Wonder if he can pick up more wins now, I’m surprised at how easy it was for him.
I’ve got a bet on that Cav, Pidcock and Adam Yeats all get a stage win, 1 down, 2 to go!
Perhaps some kudos to Vino for assembling a sprint team. Astana has never had that in my memory and the Boss (Vino) backed it in full force. Sure the last 1km Cav did what Cav does but he had 30 min before where the team helped him save energy. And maybe on day 1 let’s give Cav credit for pacing himself against the time cut and saving his legs for days like today
Defending his MTB crown, but also doing the Road Race.
MTB is his focus I suspect. Road race he may see if he can form a breakaway 65k out on the descent of Cote du Pave des Gardes, and use the last climb to go for a long solo. But overall not sure the course is ideal for him. Still it’s olympics and so without the strong and large team racing in the tours, it’ll be interesting.
I read somewhere last year Cav still had the best numbers on paper of all the sprinters?
I read somewhere last year Cav still had the best numbers on paper of all the sprinters?
I always thought his brute top line power was far less than most of the other sprinters and he just punches a much smaller wall of wind at 70 kph than anyone else out there. It’s like he is sprinting for a super tuck frontal and back position with his head hanging over the front wheel…he’s just not sitting on the top tube haha !!!
As far as I know, he’s an asshole and I don’t support people like him. I really wish he didn’t win and hope he never wins again. He didn’t apologize to three riders he took out and is an arrogant prick.
What are you talking about? He certainly didn’t take anybody out today. Not even close.
As far as him being an asshole, whatever. I think he’s had his moments, and I’m just by no means his biographer, but if you watch the documentary about him on Netflix I think you see a really vulnerable personal that really struggles with his own self worth. I can appreciate that and see him with empathy.
What are you talking about? He certainly didn’t take anybody out today. Not even close.
As far as him being an asshole, whatever. I think he’s had his moments, and I’m just by no means his biographer, but if you watch the documentary about him on Netflix I think you see a really vulnerable personal that really struggles with his own self worth. I can appreciate that and see him with empathy.
In fairness to Cav, every sprinter in cycling, every boxer and to a degree F1 race driver, if you are going to succeed in this type of gladiator sport, it ends up being a health degree of cockiness, bravado, and quiet respect for the other guys . They all know that at any moment they beat the other guy or get taken out by the other guy and there will be a degree of "I succeed at your expense or you succeed at my expense, just don’t do anything stupid or egrarious.
I think Cav earned respect over a long tenure from multiple generations of riders. Just by virtue of his profession, at times he will have taken risks that have imperilled others and at other times they did that to him . If someone does not want to sign up for those rough rules of engagement, no one is forcing them to be a pro cycling sprinter. That is just another world and the only people who can judge the character of these guys are there peers. The rest of us watching from the sidelines, really have no idea who is an asshole.
Sometimes the profession makes one look like an asshole to outsiders. Often it is their professional persona talking, not the underlying human
And I’m sure that you know better than all the riders in the current peloton who literally queued up today to congratulate him. And if you knew anything about track riding you’d also to be able to look at that clip you posted and see why that wasn’t Cav’s fault (as evidenced by commissaries at the time if I recall).
And I’m sure that you know better than all the riders in the current peloton who literally queued up today to congratulate him. And if you knew anything about track riding you’d also to be able to look at that clip you posted and see why that wasn’t Cav’s fault (as evidenced by commissaries at the time if I recall).
if a career is long enough everyone will do things that the rest of the world may question. It is just a function of the time the pilot spends in the cockpit. The current and past peloton are the ones who decide. We can have our two cents worth, but as we are not on the track and tarmac at the same time, our opinion inherently gets less weight.
But legit to discuss all aspects of Cav’s career and we can banter on that. We don’t all need to agree with each other.