buddie06smfc Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Stunning achievement by Cavendish, great to see. Hopefully he can go one, possibly two further. Him and Morkov could quite easily get 1st and 2nd on the Champs-Elysees, not all that different a finish from today. Morkov is pretty special in his own right at these sprints. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Morkov is incredible. Up there with peak Renshaw in just being so unbelievably calm in amongst some 45mph carnage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Briggs Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Morkov could win stages if he was the lead sprinter. He'd also be a great classics option for. Quickstep. Cavendish was on the limit and still delivered. It's just like watching HTC Highroad again. Sam Bennett must be gutted watching Cav win four stages with his lead out train. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Briggs Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Cavendish (141st) is over 2 minutes ahead of Froome (145th) in the GC! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggyness Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 I wrote Cavendish off a couple of years ago. I may even have posted in here that he wouldn't win another tour stage. What an absolutely phenomenal recovery he's had and is by far the best sprinter at the tour this year. Another green jersey at 36 and will likely break the all time record for tour stage wins. Wow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 While Cavs achievement is immense, I think it needs pointing out how relatively poor the level of competition is from the other sprinters in this Tour. Not that Cavs going to care, and neither should he. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggyness Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 Bit of a shame he only lasted one day past this effort after a crash 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btb Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 Congrats to Kuss for the stage win and Valverde for sticking one in for us grey/no hairs. Pogacer looked totally in control out there today. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Briggs Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 On 10/07/2021 at 10:54, printer said: While Cavs achievement is immense, I think it needs pointing out how relatively poor the level of competition is from the other sprinters in this Tour. Not that Cavs going to care, and neither should he. The level of competition was very good at the start but several sprinters have abandoned - Ewan, Merlier, Sagan, Demare and Coquard. Cobrelli and Matthews don't have the speed. Phillipsen has had his chances and not taken them. Cavendish also beat most of the top sprinters in the final stage of the Tour of Belgium - Merlier, Groenewegen, Ackerman, Bouhanni, Coquard, Ewan and Nizzolo. It was clear then that his form was excellent. So who do you think could beat Cav atm? Sam Bennett's form was not great even before his injury. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 50 minutes ago, Bishop Briggs said: The level of competition was very good at the start but several sprinters have abandoned - Ewan, Merlier, Sagan, Demare and Coquard. Cobrelli and Matthews don't have the speed. Phillipsen has had his chances and not taken them. Cavendish also beat most of the top sprinters in the final stage of the Tour of Belgium - Merlier, Groenewegen, Ackerman, Bouhanni, Coquard, Ewan and Nizzolo. It was clear then that his form was excellent. So who do you think could beat Cav atm? Sam Bennett's form was not great even before his injury. I'm talking specifically about the Tour. Apart from Caleb Ewan and possibly Merlier, although for me he's yet to prove himself of the highest class, there are no top level sprinters in this Tour IMO (Cav excepted). Cav was always extra special at taking his chances and that's what he has done again, backed by an excellent lead out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Briggs Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 47 minutes ago, printer said: I'm talking specifically about the Tour. Apart from Caleb Ewan and possibly Merlier, although for me he's yet to prove himself of the highest class, there are no top level sprinters in this Tour IMO (Cav excepted). Cav was always extra special at taking his chances and that's what he has done again, backed by an excellent lead out. You don't consider Sagan to be a top level sprinter? Who are the top level sprinters (Quickstep's Bennett and Jacobsen excepted) who you think are missing from the Tour? I can only think of Groenewegen who has not recaptured his pre-ban form. Viviani and Kristoff have struggled badly over the last two seasons and can't be considered top level atm. The starting Tour sprinters were Cav, Ewan, Sagan, Merlier, Phillipsen, Van Aert, Coquard, Demare, Matthews, Cobrelli, Pedersen, Stuyven, Greipel, Von Poppel and McLay. That's as strong a list as any recent GT. Cav can only beat the other teams' chosen sprinters. It's not his fault that several have crashed out or abandoned because they can't handle the mountains. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 I'm talking specifically about the Tour. Apart from Caleb Ewan and possibly Merlier, although for me he's yet to prove himself of the highest class, there are no top level sprinters in this Tour IMO (Cav excepted). Cav was always extra special at taking his chances and that's what he has done again, backed by an excellent lead out. You're right, without Cipollini & Petacchi being there, the standard's been shite.His maillot Vert will be tainted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddie06smfc Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Congrats to Kuss for the stage win and Valverde for sticking one in for us grey/no hairs.Kuss has looked a good bet for a lot of mountainous stages, he was the perfect domestique for Roglic in the Vuelta & Tour last year often would be the only non-GC rider left towards the end. His time trialling really lets him down otherwise he could be a team leader himself. It’s a shame Roglic crashed out as his team have looked to only get stronger as the Tour has gone on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Briggs Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 18 hours ago, kiddy said: You're right, without Cipollini & Petacchi being there, the standard's been shite. His maillot Vert will be tainted. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Pretty shambolic start to today's stage. Mountaintop start, with all the riders well wrapped up, which then stopped down in the valley to allow them to strip down![emoji2359] What was the point of all that then?[emoji2371] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggyness Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 The lack of GC action is becoming a bit boring. I wish Pogacar would either destroy the field or someone blows trying to do something, this procession amongst the GC riders is becoming a bit repetitive. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 On 12/07/2021 at 16:07, Bishop Briggs said: You don't consider Sagan to be a top level sprinter? Who are the top level sprinters (Quickstep's Bennett and Jacobsen excepted) who you think are missing from the Tour? I can only think of Groenewegen who has not recaptured his pre-ban form. Viviani and Kristoff have struggled badly over the last two seasons and can't be considered top level atm. The starting Tour sprinters were Cav, Ewan, Sagan, Merlier, Phillipsen, Van Aert, Coquard, Demare, Matthews, Cobrelli, Pedersen, Stuyven, Greipel, Von Poppel and McLay. That's as strong a list as any recent GT. Cav can only beat the other teams' chosen sprinters. It's not his fault that several have crashed out or abandoned because they can't handle the mountains. No I don't consider Sagan to be in the top level of sprinters, he's just not quick enough, and I'm a big fan. I'm not having a go at Cav's achievment, as you say he can only beat what's there and he's done that comprehensively. There's no one (apart from Cab and Ewan) at the top level IMO. It's not who is missing from the Tour, it's compared to normal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 On 12/07/2021 at 17:29, kiddy said: You're right, without Cipollini & Petacchi being there, the standard's been shite. His maillot Vert will be tainted. Erik Zabel's the big miss for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 28 minutes ago, printer said: Erik Zabel's the big miss for me. It's value is nothing, if you don't have to negotiate Abdoujaparov crashing in front of you. The Tashkent Terror - YouTube 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 26 minutes ago, kiddy said: It's value is nothing, if you don't have to negotiate Abdoujaparov crashing in front of you. The Tashkent Terror - YouTube When men were men, and sprinters were lunatics. Still the best ever name in sport for me. Djamolidine Abďoujaparox. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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