Cavendish to Quick Step?

[gavintc]

An interesting, but not unsurprising article in Cycling News suggesting that Cavendish will leave Sky at the end of the season. I think others on here commented that Sky was not a good fit for Cavendish when he joined at the end of last year.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-to-omega-pharma-quick-step

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Hope he leaves sky and gets back on a specialized.

 

[raindog]

and gets back on a specialized.

why?

 

[black'n'yellow]

why?

it's the law..

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

why?

Im a fan of Cav's and a fan of Specialized bkes. I also liked the fact that when Cav rode a Venge he used a bike with standard frame geometry, the Dogma he currently uses has bespoke geometry which I feel is slightly misleading, if its not the same frame geometry as a consumer Dogma they should not label it as one imho.
That's why but I equally appreciate black 'n' yellows reasoning.

 

[raindog]

I couldn't give a sh t what bike he rides

 

[Monsieur Remings]

I care about who he rides for.

 

[Scoosh]

Cav desperately wants an Olympic medal and has said that he wants to ride on the track in Rio.

Sky, with their close links with British Cycling, would probably more prepared to release him from his road commitments so he could focus on the track prior to Rio.

- Would OPQS (or whatever they might be called by then ) be as accommodating ?

- Would his contract with them be for 4 years ?

- Could he go to them for 3 years, then back to Sky ?

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Purely speculating, assuming he is going to be the centre piece, and assuming whatever team it is will follow reasonably close to the htc formula, then the team would have a few strong TT guys (Quickstep seems to qualify), Eisel (who presumably will follow), plus a strong lead out man or two. Renshaw? Goss? It seems both have disappointed themselves and their new teams somewhat so far.

But Sagan the wunderkind wasn't around then... surely some modification to the old htc formula is needed?

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Purely speculating, assuming he is going to be the centre piece, and assuming whatever team it is will follow reasonably close to the htc formula, then the team would have a few strong TT guys (Quickstep seems to qualify), Eisel (who presumably will follow), plus a strong lead out man or two. Renshaw? Goss? It seems both have disappointed themselves and their new teams somewhat so far.

But Sagan the wunderkind wasn't around then... surely some modification to the old htc formula is needed?

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm still not sure that in an out and out sprint that Sagan can compete with Cav...yet. He is a very intelligent rider and he uses his strengths well, getting into a position ahead where any lead-out train for a rider like Cav would become obsolete.

I can't remember, for instance, which stage of the TDF but an incline towards the last few km of said stage, did for Cav. It didn't for Sagan and so although there was a sprint finish, Cav wasn't there to contend as he would be on a pure flat stage finish built for a bunch sprint. Griepel is stronger IMO whilst Sagan is a better all-rounder who I think will, also, excel in the Classics.

 

[asterix]

IMO TdF riding simply isn't and never will be the best game for Cavendish. He's excelled in using his strengths but simply isn't the right type of cyclist to do more than what he does in it. I'd like to see him focus on Rio.

 

[Red Light]

IMO TdF riding simply isn't and never will be the best game for Cavendish. He's excelled in using his strengths but simply isn't the right type of cyclist to do more than what he does in it. I'd like to see him focus on Rio.

But he stands a good chance of become the all-time greatest TdeF rider as measured by the number of stage wins but he needs to clock up 12 more stage wins and unlike Merckx he doesn't have five years left to do it in with the young riders coming through. If he had had five stage wins this year he could feasibly make it in another two years but with only three stage wins he'll probably need to keep this dominant form for another three years to get there and the slower he accumulates them the harder it will be to get there.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

IMO TdF riding simply isn't and never will be the best game for Cavendish. He's excelled in using his strengths but simply isn't the right type of cyclist to do more than what he does in it. I'd like to see him focus on Rio.

Road race or on the track? It seems to me if GB couldn't win the road race with such a squad and course this year, 4 years ahead must be a long and uncertain wait. If track wouldn't it be seen by all concerned to be a backward step?

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm still not sure that in an out and out sprint that Sagan can compete with Cav...yet. He is a very intelligent rider and he uses his strengths well, getting into a position ahead where any lead-out train for a rider like Cav would become obsolete.

I can't remember, for instance, which stage of the TDF but an incline towards the last few km of said stage, did for Cav. It didn't for Sagan and so although there was a sprint finish, Cav wasn't there to contend as he would be on a pure flat stage finish built for a bunch sprint. Griepel is stronger IMO whilst Sagan is a better all-rounder who I think will, also, excel in the Classics.

+1. The question then is whether and what can he and a team can do for more points and stage wins.

 

[Rob3rt]

Road race or on the track? It seems to me if GB couldn't win the road race with such a squad and course this year, 4 years ahead must be a long and uncertain wait. If track wouldn't it be seen by all concerned to be a backward step?

You can have the best squad in the world and you still are far from guaranteed a win in a road race. But the team pursuit, if you are the fastest team and can recover fast enough between rounds to do it a few times a day for a couple of days, you will win. So given that Cav wants to get a gold really bad he wants to ride the team pursuit in Rio (provided he makes the cut, it is his most secure chance). I think for him this is probably a good decision, maybe some people will see it as a step back, but if not having a Gold medal bothers him so much, then I'd like to see him happy and get one on the track rather than continue to feel like he missed out.