Is Cav the next Oscar?
Is Cav starting his conversion into the next Oscarito? Methinks yes, great move off Eisel's wheel. This is the difference between good (Farrar, Greipel etc) and great (Cav, McQ', Freire). The ability to move from your lead out and follow another wheel and win is a rare one. Recap the World's. Obviously there's a long way to go before he can be compared to Oscar but it's so exciting to think a GB rider can compete for classics too, well exciting if you're a Brit!
4 months ago
Maratsafin
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I don’t see the comparison, myself. Has Oscar ever had a leadout? I really don’t know…so the question is serious. I have always felt Cav is more a leadout sprinter (needs a train – any train will do) and Oscar is more an opportunistic sprinter (takes advantage of confusion, crash, the course – he’s the curb hopping king). But anyway…just don’t see the Cav – Oscar comparison myself.
Cav hasn't always had a train. He was a wheel-hopper himself in the early days.
The train was Greipel’s when Cav first won Scheldeprijs—T-Mobile just cut him loose to take his own chance.
I understand there are many people in Norway who wanted me to go with yellow shoes, but it's okay to try something else--Edvald Boasson Hagen
Yes, I think the closest comparison is McEwen.
I’d say it’s pretty clear by now that Cavendish is better than McEwen as a pure sprinter.
Whether Cav has, or can develop, the same “lone wolf” skills as McEwen remains to be seen – but we know from his early days that it’s in his nature. He may simply be too good a sprinter ever to get a chance to develop those skills further – anyone who hires him will want to devote a big chunk of the team to him, and on the odd occasion when the train gets lost, they may discourage him from taking too many chances unless it’s a huge race.
maybe McQ
is the best comparison but certainly Cav is a different beast to his first couple of TDF’s. Certainly another MSR, Ghent and Paris Tours are within his capabilities (even though PT isn’t the sprinters track it once was).
Rafa's on peds
Wonder how much fatherhood is going to distract him this year...
Girlfriend will be roughly 8 months pregnant when MSR rolls around.
I understand there are many people in Norway who wanted me to go with yellow shoes, but it's okay to try something else--Edvald Boasson Hagen
By that stage...
…even more ginormous breasts, and Mark won’t have been let near them for quite some time.
All I can say is, if you’re sprinting against Cav in MSR, and you want to live — hold your line, hold your line.
And don’t ask him any stupid questions afterwards.
Ha!
I understand there are many people in Norway who wanted me to go with yellow shoes, but it's okay to try something else--Edvald Boasson Hagen
Don't see the comparison at all, myself
Freire gets over mountains. Freire doesn’t have a lead-out, nor a whole team working for him. They’re both great, but I don’t see the likeness.
Coffee cures all. ~ Gav
Snort!! Well said friend, well said!
I’m pretty much convinced that you’re all batshit insane there. ~gavia~
I guess what I was aiming at
was Cav like McQ and Oscar have the ‘sense’ of where the race climax is going. as opposed to farrar who often doesn’t get the chance to finish it off, despite the best efforts of his team.
obviously Cav doesn’t do hills like Oscar but I wonder if it’s a case of – yet. he can develop and change no? I remember a couple of years ago he talked about Flanders, but then backtracked saying he just wanted to help the team. the new route Flanders is no good for him but maybe if the route was eased in the future anyone see that?
having put that idea out, I think that Flanders is too tough for his size, other capable sprinters like Boonen, Farrar and Hushold etc are way bigger, stronger but what do I know?
but I do think he has the talent and desire to maximise whatever potential his body can produce. he’s more than a flat track bully surely?
Rafa's on peds
He's the best sprinter in the world all round
But he’s had such a good lead out train that I don’t think he is comparable to McEwen or Oscar.
As far as classics go. Anything he does to further that will be at a detriment to his sprinting, so it’s up to him whether he wants to win less stages in the hope of winning more classics, and risks having a couple of years like Boonen has had recently.
I wish him luck if he decides to try, but I doubt it will be yet.
Oscar have the ‘sense’ of where the race climax is going
Dude never even knows what lap they’re in!
(I so do love(d) Oscar. (before he went to Katusha))
Coffee cures all. ~ Gav
some can't see the forest for the trees,
some can’t see the trees for the forest,
Oscar can’t see either, because he’s seeing the holes between.
Maybe this has to do with new studies showing that dyslexic people have strikingly excellent skills at integrating information from peripheral vision. He knows something deep about where he is and what’s going on, it’s just not the same information that everyone else takes for granted.
"It is unfortunate that the Wall is not plugged in correctly."
So if he did retire last year, would you still love him?
Katusha gave him last chance to shine, in my opinion. And shame on Rabo that they didn’t.
In loving memory of the HTC- Highroad
.
bite your tongue!
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
This year, I expected him to emulate Zable . .
. . . being that he’ll be in the TDF with Wiggins, who actually has a pretty good shot this year, he’ll need to ride as Zable did back in the Telecom days when he was going for the Green Jersey while Riis & Ulrich competed for the GC.
What would Deming do? (+8:00 GMT)
I think he's more the first Mark Cavendish
….than the next anybody else. He’s re-defined the whole blueprint of a sprinter and has qualities of all of the recent greats (Cipo, McEwen, Freire, Zabel) without being able to be defined as in the mould of any of them. If he can develop the ability to win in the cobbled classics then he really will have taken a position amongst the legends of the sport by the end of his career.
how has he "re-defined the whole blueprint of a sprinter" ?
He is by far the most dominant sprinter of his era, and will most likely go down as the greatest sprinter ever, but I don’t get what he is “re-defiining?” He’s just much better at doing it then everyone else.
PopUp – we need your orange asterisk thingy back.
Nope neither do I.....
…….Had had a bit to drink last night and was clearly somewhat hyperbolic in my descriptions! He’s pretty decent is what I meant to say.
Impressive
He was pretty impressive today. Early days in the season I know but nevertheless he followed his own judgement instead of a team mate’s wheel and won by a long way.
Rafa's on peds
sorry there was
a comment with that in that he followed his instinct not a team mate’s wheel and won easily. early in the season I know but………
Rafa's on peds
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