# Cavendish on Greipel



## terry b (Jan 29, 2004)

Cav's remarks on Greipel this morning - "honestly, he's just not that clever on a bike."

I sincerely hope that Cavendish someday grows into the champion that his palmares deserve.


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## asciibaron (Aug 11, 2006)

what will he have to say when he's 14 minutes behind in the mountains.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

asciibaron said:


> what will he have to say when he's 14 minutes behind in the mountains.


Actually he finished 21' down on Stage 9...and those weren't even tall mountains by TdF standards...


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

He's trying to be today's Lance or Ricco: the one that fans love to hate....


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## cq20 (Mar 24, 2007)

Cav's remarks on Greipel 


> Mark Cavendish @markcavendish: "Well, that's me beaten. Went with 250m to go, but didn't 'kick' until 200m. Greipel rode it perfect & got speed by running up on me"


and he repeated the comment about Greipel's technical excellence during the interview after the end of Stage 11.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

A lot of what he says gets taken out of context. He also praised Greipel and said he had ridden a perfect sprint. But that doesn't get posted as often.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

asciibaron said:


> what will he have to say when he's 14 minutes behind in the mountains.


What does he need to say? That's what is expected of him and the other sprinters.


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## wiz525 (Dec 31, 2007)

Cinelli 82220 said:


> A lot of what he says gets taken out of context. He also praised Greipel and said he had ridden a perfect sprint. But that doesn't get posted as often.


This. He's actually one of my favorite guys now after disliking him for awhile. i realized the only reason i disliked him was b/c of these boards. maybe others here are similar.


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## serpico7 (Jul 11, 2006)

I can't remember the last sprinter who constantly praised his team as much as Cavendish.

He may be a dick to rivals, but he's the kind of guy his team will rally around.


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## asciibaron (Aug 11, 2006)

mohair_chair said:


> What does he need to say? That's what is expected of him and the other sprinters.


that's my point - the sprinters are the opening act to the real race later this week.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

Dan Gerous said:


> He's trying to be today's Lance or Ricco: the one that fans love to hate....


I think he is trying to be the modern day Mario Cippolini. He isn't Italian so his dry UK humor doesn't come off as smooth as Super Mario's.


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## ProdigalCyclist (May 3, 2011)

asciibaron said:


> what will he have to say when he's 14 minutes behind in the mountains.


LOL... He'll have the same things to say that every pure sprinter has to say about mountain stages.

"I hate mountain stages"
"That was a nice training ride through the mountains of France"
"The others in the Groupetto and I made the best of it and tried to conserve as much as we could today"

What the heck was the point in that question? Like Mark Cavendish gives a crap about being 14 minutes behind on a mountain stage?


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## ProdigalCyclist (May 3, 2011)

serpico7 said:


> I can't remember the last sprinter who constantly praised his team as much as Cavendish.
> 
> *He may be a dick to rivals, but he's the kind of guy his team will rally around*.


THAT is exactly why I like him so much.


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## ProdigalCyclist (May 3, 2011)

asciibaron said:


> that's my point - the sprinters are the opening act to the real race later this week.




LOL... Real Race???

I went in to this Tour more interested in what Mark Cavendish does than the overall winner... Because whoever wins will just end up having their title taken away in a couple years anyway. The only thing a win in the (overall) TdF gets you these days is a bunch of people calling you a doper. 

The Mountain stages are going to be exciting... no doubt... but I'm more interested in who wins the Green Jersey than the Yellow this year.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

This group of riders at HTC should stay together, they are awesome. "Dogs of War". If Cav joins Sky he'll go down a level for sure. He was generous and sporting about his loss to Greipel yesterday and put things (Greipel and Farrar) in their right and proper place today.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

serpico7 said:


> I can't remember the last sprinter who constantly praised his team as much as Cavendish.
> 
> He may be a dick to rivals, but he's the kind of guy his team will rally around.





I'd rather see him be a consistent d*ck all the way around. At least then we'd know he's being honest.




Oh yes, he won today. Surprise!


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## desurfer (Feb 13, 2006)

I've been following pro cycling since I started riding in '04; this makes me a n00b I guess, but nonetheless I just don't 'get' these sprint finishes. It seems, IMHO, that whoever has the willpower to wheelsuck the longest, then jump out, is considered a superior 'sprinter'. Cav, to me, appears to be the best at waiting to burn his matches last. I'd love to see them line up side-by-side for half a km or so and see who can really 'sprint'.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Look like friendly rivals to me:


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## Jwiffle (Mar 18, 2005)

asciibaron said:


> what will he have to say when he's 14 minutes behind in the mountains.


He will spend the extra time talking with the other sprinters as they all hash over ideas on how to react to each other after their next win or loss.

Cav: "I'm going to crush you guys in Paris."
Farrar: "nuh-uh. But if I lose, I'm going to claim Renshaw headbutted me."
Greipel: "I won already, my life is complete. Am I dead?"

etc.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Greipel has a strangely shaped head.


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

spookyload said:


> i think he is trying to be the modern day mario cippolini. He isn't italian so his dry uk humor doesn't come off as smooth as super mario's.


^^^^ this!


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## Sylint (Jul 27, 2009)

ProdigalCyclist said:


> LOL... Real Race???
> 
> I went in to this Tour more interested in what Mark Cavendish does than the overall winner...


 
yeah...but to the rest of us it just now really got kicked off. Glad you enjoyed the sprints.


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## ph0enix (Aug 12, 2009)

Cinelli 82220 said:


> Look like friendly rivals to me:


If only Cavendish had enough strength in his left arm to snap Greipel's neck...


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## husonfirst (Jul 15, 2006)

serpico7 said:


> I can't remember the last sprinter who constantly praised his team as much as Cavendish.


That's because he'd only have maybe 5 stage wins without his teammates. Look at what happened yesterday. No train, no win.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

husonfirst said:


> That's because he'd only have maybe 5 stage wins without his teammates. Look at what happened yesterday. No train, no win.


Only 5 stages wins out of 18? Harsh! Without HTC some other team would lead out, the sprints would be more chaotic, but Cav would still win plenty if he found a good wheel to sit on - maybe not 18, but definitely way more than 5. 
Cav won plenty without Renshaw's help last year. But that's an irrelevant point - leadout teams are part of the sport, and last time I checked other sprinters have teammates too, Garmin was leading out Farrar today, but they didn't get very far - and with Millar and Hushovd, who could wish for a faster leadout?
Additionally, HTC-Columbia has been driving at the front for many tens of km every flat stage, so if anything, advantage should go to Omega and Garmin.
More relevant questions - How many stages would Cav have won without his bicycle? Or pedaling with one foot only? How many stages would Farrar win if he was allowed to ride a motorcycle?

By the way - yesterday Cav went way too early, but even then he was very close - today it wasn't even close, Greipel was hiding in Cav's slipstream and was still losing ground. 

These types of discussions (Cav would win very few stages without the team) sound a bit desperate and only help highlight just how dominant Cav is in the sprint.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

Cav, double punks today
intentionally sits on Greipel and pips him for the intermediate and then uses the train to crush everyone in the finale
Cav has won plenty without a lead out, if you don't think so you need to go back and check all his wins again
he got beat yesterday because he jumped too soon and Greipel got it perfect
Cav gives praises to his team and his rivals.


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## savechief (Apr 16, 2009)

It was interesting for me to see Cav next to Greipel for the last two stages. Cav looks incredibly smooth in his sprints, while Greipel looks downright awkward. It's as if he's riding a kid's bike, with this jerky "half-rotation, pause, half-rotation, pause" type cadence. Much less fluid.


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## ProdigalCyclist (May 3, 2011)

Sylint said:


> yeah...but to the rest of us it just now really got kicked off. Glad you enjoyed the sprints.


Well I sure hope you enjoy rooting for the Overall... because in less than a year they'll just be taking away the title and giving it to the second place guy... you watch.

I'm excited about the Mountain stages... there should be some EPIC racing going on this year.But they're already just about to take away Contador's title from last year (And they'll take this years too if he wins) It's gotten to the point where who ever wins just gets a bulls eye on their back... and people look for reasons to take it back.


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## sir duke (Mar 24, 2006)

I don't recall 'Super Mario' getting so much stick for what was at times brattish behaviour. Cav is a prima donna right enough but he does his best talking on the bike. He also had the balls to contest a sprint in treacherous conditions. Plus at least Cav can last all the way to Paris, Cippo usually shot his load at the first speed bump. And Cav will win in Paris and I will be there to cheer him on..speed bumps permitting.


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