# Cav: Is he a genius? “Last time I did an IQ test I was, yeah.”



## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Some nice excerpts / interviews here in advance of his new book:

Mark Cavendish - Latest news on the record-breaking British sprinter - Telegraph


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

I haven't had time to read them all, but I did read the one titled: "The day I knew it was all over with Sky". I take it him and Yates didn't see eye to eye, but for the director to treat Cav like that in a middle of the TdF is pretty pathetic. Get over your personal differences and do what's best for the *team*.



> For a few hundred metres I was hanging in there, until the road began to descend and I could no longer stand the pace with no air in my tyre. Finally, having remained silent in the radio the whole time, Yates arrived in our first team car, waited while the mechanic swapped my wheel, then drove immediately off without even giving me a push.
> I had never been left stranded like that after a mechanical, not even as a 22-year-old neo-pro in a tiny one-day race in France. Here we were at the Tour de France, on a stage that I was the favourite to win, and I was the world champion. I was heartbroken.


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## RaptorTC (Jul 20, 2012)

Blergh, the book is for sale in the UK starting today, but looks like us stateside have to wait until December 9th.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

Here's some more on Cav/new book:

Cavendish Against A Truth And Reconciliation Commission | Cyclingnews.com


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

love4himies said:


> I haven't had time to read them all, but I did read the one titled: "The day I knew it was all over with Sky". I take it him and Yates didn't see eye to eye, but for the director to treat Cav like that in a middle of the TdF is pretty pathetic. Get over your personal differences and do what's best for the *team*.


well Sean had probably bigger things on his in 2012 than to be Cavs motoman


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## Cableguy (Jun 6, 2010)

This is probably a dumb question, but did Cav himself actually write his book? Or is it standard practice these days for someone else to ghost write, edit, and basically do everything. Whoever wrote it is a very good writer, I like the style. 

Based on his interviews, the way he speaks and articulates, it doesn't seem he could write well. This is obviously a hyperbole, but it's like reading "the book" of a severely mentally challenged person who can barely express basic ideas yet the book is in the first person and very well written with impeccable grammar/spelling. Weird.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

if George W Bush did not actually write his memoir nor 99% of his speeches, then we shouldn't expect a prima donna road sprinter to either.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

den bakker said:


> well Sean had probably bigger things on his in 2012 than to be Cavs motoman


Perhaps, but a push to get him going wouldn't have been the end of the world.


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## Cableguy (Jun 6, 2010)

aclinjury said:


> if George W Bush did not actually write his memoir nor 99% of his speeches, then we shouldn't expect a prima donna road sprinter to either.


Only 99%? Wait are you implying Bush wrote *something*?

I'm not a book reader, and for these types of books this is one of the reasons why. I'd much rather read something Cav himself wrote (grammatical errors and all) instead of something almost exclusively filtered and diluted by other people.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

Cableguy said:


> This is probably a dumb question, but did Cav himself actually write his book? Or is it standard practice these days for someone else to ghost write, edit, and basically do everything. Whoever wrote it is a very good writer, I like the style.
> 
> Based on his interviews, the way he speaks and articulates, it doesn't seem he could write well. This is obviously a hyperbole, but it's like reading "the book" of a severely mentally challenged person who can barely express basic ideas yet the book is in the first person and very well written with impeccable grammar/spelling. Weird.


"The book was co-written by UK journalist and author Daniel Friebe and he's done a great job of translating Cavendish's mercurial character onto the written page."
Read more at Mark Cavendish's new book, At Speed, hits the shops | Latest News | Cycling Weekly


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

I'd speculate that they sat down with a tape recorder and Cav shared stories and talked, then Friebe later turned it into coherent prose.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Cav was never a good fit in the Sky team. He was hired because the owners of Sky -- who happen to be big cycling fans-- really wanted to have the world champion on their team.
His Tour was very good considering he was used mostly as a waterboy and domestique. To his credit he did his job and didn't whine about it.


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

Creakyknees said:


> I'd speculate that they sat down with a tape recorder and Cav shared stories and talked, then Friebe later turned it into coherent prose.


Which I think is pretty much the norm and makes complete sense. Even professional writers get help from editors and proofreaders. I totally disagree with Cableguy. The difference between having a professional writer do it and a professional cyclist do it is much more than just grammatical errors.


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## jlandry (Jan 12, 2007)

If he had written it himself, it would full of the F and C word.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

nate said:


> Which I think is pretty much the norm and makes complete sense. ...


Of course. A good writer can be capable of doing a better and more accurate job of expressing Cav's thoughts and feelings than Cav himself could likely do.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

Cinelli 82220 said:


> Cav was never a good fit in the Sky team. He was hired because the owners of Sky -- who happen to be big cycling fans-- really wanted to have the world champion on their team.
> His Tour was very good considering he was used mostly as a waterboy and domestique. To his credit he did his job and didn't whine about it.


which says more about Cav and less about Sky and Yates


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## Cableguy (Jun 6, 2010)

nate said:


> I totally disagree with *Cableguy*. The difference between having a professional writer do it and a professional cyclist do it is much more than just grammatical errors.


I take it you very quickly skimmed over what I wrote, but you should change "Cableguy" to "no one" above. To clarify, you're disagreeing with no one.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

jlandry said:


> If he had written it himself, it would full of the F and C word.


Ah, so this is the abridged version.


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## nayr497 (Nov 8, 2008)

So...do you think he was kidding about being a genius? Stating a fact, as in his IQ is at the "genius" level? Or what? I was confused by that.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

jlandry said:


> If he had written it himself, it would full of the F and C word.


and what's wrong with Fruit Cakes?


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

nayr497 said:


> So...do you think he was kidding about being a genius? Stating a fact, as in his IQ is at the "genius" level? Or what? I was confused by that.


No, from the tone and context of the article, I don't think he was kidding

I do think, however, that a lot of people confuse diction, vocabulary and bearing with intelligence.


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## Cableguy (Jun 6, 2010)

Creakyknees said:


> No, from the tone and context of the article, I don't think he was kidding
> 
> I do think, however, that a lot of people confuse diction, vocabulary and bearing with intelligence.


I'm not one of those people. I know you're a moreon.


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

Cableguy said:


> I take it you very quickly skimmed over what I wrote, but you should change "Cableguy" to "no one" above. To clarify, you're disagreeing with no one.


No, I didn't quickly skim it. Because of this comment, I assume you meant you don't like reading political books written by someone other than the credited author, but your previous post looked to me like you were saying you would rather read a Cavendish book that didn't include the help of a professional writer.



> Only 99%? Wait are you implying Bush wrote something?
> 
> I'm not a book reader, and for these types of books this is one of the reasons why. I'd much rather read something Cav himself wrote (grammatical errors and all) instead of something almost exclusively filtered and diluted by other people.


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## Cableguy (Jun 6, 2010)

nate said:


> No, I didn't quickly skim it.


I said "grammatical errors and all" which you seem to have read as *just* "grammatical errors", so you said, 



> I totally disagree with Cableguy. The difference between having a professional writer do it and a professional cyclist do it is much more than just grammatical errors.


Just pointing out we do not actually disagree, I think you just misread what I wrote.


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## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

the excerpted article is a good read to start. i think i'll add this to my gorwing collection of books about racers.

Book Excerpt: Cavendish rehashes 2013 Tour de France struggles - VeloNews.com


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