Cavendish to Quick Step?

[oldroadman]

Transfer and speculation season rolls on. Will he go/will he stay seems to exercise plenty of talking heads. Speculation that Lefevre was after him, and he all but made an offer in public, very carefully, Astana have been mentioned (I hope the answer is a firm no there), now Garmin.
All you have to do is list the Protour teams and that gives you a 18-1 chance of being right.
I'll bet his agent has got a good idea of the next move though!

 

[thom]

Speaking of Cavendish, I had the tv on out here, and an ad for heid & shoulders came on, with the swimmer Phelps showing his stuff and his shiny hair, then to balance things out on comes Cavendish, getting lathered up and then showing off his own shiny barnet, I found it all a bit strange, did not really go with how I see him as it were, he must have got paid a good few squigglies to pose like such a muppet.

The deal was something along the lines of Team GB's Olympic participation is paid for by BOA who have a list of sponsors (no lottery funding at this point). P&G is one such sponsor and they have 11 brandambassadors on the back of it. Cav got H&S as part of this so it's not clear he personally gets paid anything for that.

 

[raindog]

I'll bet his agent has got a good idea of the next move though!

I'll bet his mam does too.

 

[yello]

Personally, I hope he stays with Sky because I think they'll work with him, develop him. Clearly, he's already a winner so it stands to reason that any team would be interested in him... their sponsors will like that too. It depends how Cavendish wants to map out his future, he's got choices to go in a number of directions.

So more than anything else, I want Cavendish to do what he wants by whatever criteria he decides. I'll support and cheer whatever team he's with.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Personally, I hope he stays with Sky because I think they'll work with him, develop him.

I really don't. He can still be associated with British Cycling and benefit from all of that, but I really don't think it is healthy for British cycling (in the general sense) to have all the top British riders in one pro-team when there are so many now coming through. Cavendish in particular doesn't really seem to fit into the overall plan of Sky, and he would be much better off in a team that was tactically dedicated to supporting his ambitions. He doesn't need much in the way of developing, although as he gets older, he will have to change the way he races gradually.

 

[yello]

Cavendish in particular doesn't really seem to fit into the overall plan of Sky, and he would be much better off in a team that was tactically dedicated to supporting his ambitions.

It certainly seems that way now doesn't it? Not something I was anticipating when he signed up. I reckon Sky have got some juggling to do, I just don't know which way they'll decide to do it. If they do let him go then it'll make me wonder what on earth Sky were thinking in signing him up. Or what Cavendish was told to make him sign. Sky were either short sighted or they didn't foresee the way things would pan out.

I tend to see it perhaps somewhat naively, and obviously from my own perspective and with my own hopes blurring the picture. I was hoping Cavendish would morph into a classics rider, be a green jersey contender without the need for a team to get him over every bump in the road. I saw Sky as being the place that would allow that transformation, indeed I thought that was what was happening this year. Other teams would be looking to sign the world's fastest sprinter for a return on investment, just providing more of the same. No arguments with that btw, just thought/hoped Cavendish might want something else.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I think DB wants everything and, whilst he is a very clever man, I don't think he can have it.

 

[lukesdad]

Cav could have been the safety net this year if things had not panned out the way they did.

 

[yello]

Cav could have been the safety net this year if things had not panned out the way they did.

Yes, I could see that. DB wanting to deliver on one front or another. Cavendish was plan B. How would you sell something like that to Cavendish?

 

[raindog]

Rumours about that Froome - and the Schlecks - are in talks with Leakygas.

 

[lukesdad]

Yes, I could see that. DB wanting to deliver on one front or another. Cavendish was plan B. How would you sell something like that to Cavendish?

The same way you'd sell anything to someone who doesn't need it I suspect. Tart it up a bit then over value it .

 

[rich p]

Yes, I could see that. DB wanting to deliver on one front or another. Cavendish was plan B. How would you sell something like that to Cavendish?

Hmm, to paraphrase Bob Hoskins and the BT ads - two and a half million reasons?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Rumours about that Froome - and the Schlecks - are in talks with Leakygas.

I think Froome needs to find another team too - but he won't get the automatic leadership role he wants in the same team as the Schlecks - perhaps Liquigas want either/or?

 

[Chuffy]

Transfer and speculation season rolls on. Will he go/will he stay seems to exercise plenty of talking heads. Speculation that Lefevre was after him, and he all but made an offer in public, very carefully, Astana have been mentioned (I hope the answer is a firm no there), now Garmin.
All you have to do is list the Protour teams and that gives you a 18-1 chance of being right.
I'll bet his agent has got a good idea of the next move though!

Garmin can't even afford to keep Sep Vanmarcke and JV has consistently dowplayed their ability to sign big names (Gilbert, even Froome during last years Vuelta) due to their modest budget. He'd have to sell most of the team to buy Cav.

Personally I'm not a Cav fan, never have been, and I don't really care where he goes. That said, it would be more interesting if he tries to develop as a rider rather than sticking to bagging sprint-train led flat stage wins. Sure he could bag loads more, but it's a bit one dimensional.

 

[raindog]

I think Froome needs to find another team too - but he won't get the automatic leadership role he wants in the same team as the Schlecks - perhaps Liquigas want either/or?

I don't think that means all three are going to Leaky, but just that they're in talks.
It's difficult to see who might take the Schlecks on really, with Frank's drug bust still being judged and Andy's strange non-season.