After news 3 days ago that Cav would not be riding the Tour, DQ have just announced him in their line-up! DQ and Cav tweeted it a few minutes ago. 🙂
Deceuninck Quickstep
Julian Alaphilippe
Kasper Asgreen
Davide Ballerini
Mattia Cattaneo
Mark Cavendish
Tim DeClercq
Dries Devenyns
Michael Mørkøv
so, Bennett out thanks to his knee injury, but Cav's form has paid off and someone has made the financial funds available to persuade him to race.
Glad Cav will be there, if he does win a stage that would be mega
The next season of Movistar the team documentary will be more of the same then, trying to win stages and place 3 riders on the podium and generally ballsing up tactically (and if all their best riders are at the tour then what about the Vuelta?)
The next season of Movistar the team documentary will be more of the same then, trying to win stages and place 3 riders on the podium and generally ballsing up tactically (and if all their best riders are at the tour then what about the Vuelta?)
Valverde could do Tour and Vuelta. He didn't do Giro.
It doesn't look like Bennett and Lefevere are best buddies anymore.
So, err, anyone fancy daily update threads again?
As long as we don't mind them not being done until later in the day on a weekend then happy to put the posts out.
So, err, anyone fancy daily update threads again?As long as we don’t mind them not being done until later in the day on a weekend then happy to put the posts out.
We're all expecting them @lunge !
You do a cracking job with them so if you're happy to do them again, I would certainly welcome them. 🙂
It doesn’t look like Bennett and Lefevere are best buddies anymore.
contrast that with what we says about Cav. Roughly Cav’s up for it, nervous like a kid, if he doesn’t come back with a stage fair enough, but if he does that would be spectacular.
I think I’d like the write up from my boss if I were Cav. Underselling the expectations and heavy sell on Cav’s response / attitude. I think DQS want a Cav stage more than you can imagine.
"As far as Mark Cavendish is concerned, the expectations are not too high. He is not 30 years old anymore. It is to his credit that he is nervous as if he has to ride his first race in the juniors. If he does not win, everyone will think that is normal If he does win, everyone will put him on a throne," he said.
@lunge - I'm seconding what @crazy-legs said
Re Bennett, don't we already know he's leaving at the end of the season? I suppose Lefevere has to consider the Vuelta and the rest of this season, but there's no long term gain to keeping Sam sweet. Shame, I do like Sam and want to see him race but if he;'s not 100% then the prospsect of Cav racing TDF again is somewhete exciting
@lunge, I’d appreciate the TdF daily up date, really enjoyed your efforts in the past. Thanks in advance
Who thinks Cav has a good opportunity to win a stage? Both stages 4 and 6 look good for a bunch sprint. Caleb Ewan looks to be the fastest sprinter, but he or his team doesn't always get the final positioning right. I could see Cav beating Colbrelli and Merlier in a straight sprint and the green jersey contenders such as Sagan will have been battling hard on the tough opening stages. I don't see him getting through the second week, Cav struggled to make the time cut when he was at his peak and stages 8 and 9 look brutal.
I reckon Cavendish has a decent chance of a stage win. He beat Merlier, Ewan, Ackermann and Groenewegen in tour of Belgium a couple of weeks ago in what the cycling podcast said was quite a long sprint. Plus he has the best leadout man in the business in Morkov's wheel.
Will still be picking Ewan in my Velogames team though.
So, err, anyone fancy daily update threads again?
Did you think we were going to let you off this year for some reason?!
Who thinks Cav has a good opportunity to win a stage?
Hmm.
In some respects, the pressure is off him, there's no real expectation for him to perform and it's clear that he is a replacement for Sam Bennett rather than the first-choice sprinter.
However, everyone (including us lot on here!) is now going "ooh, will Cav win?!" and he's sure to be in the interview seat at the end of every stage being given the usual shite questions along the lines of "you were in the mix there but then it all went wrong...what happened?" which is unlikely to ease the pressure or go down too well.
For what it's worth, I hope he does well. Have nothing but respect for the guy and it's good to see him in the Tour again. I hope he makes the full distance.
The usual velogames minileague is up and running
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/stw-fantasy-tour-of-france-2021/
Cav's legs may not be what they were but his race craft should stand him in good stead & put him in the mix for 1 or 2 wins possibly, but he'll need some luck..
Who thinks Cav has a good opportunity to win a stage?
QS will be looking to dominate the first week, Alaphilippe first stage plus yellow, then the next stage, Cav for the flat sprints with Morkov dedicated as lead out. Cav likes Morkov and it could be the Renshaw partnership all over again.
Cav getting to Paris? Probably depends more on the GC race and how that is being done and therefore the time cuts.
Aye, I recall that stage (up to Les Deux Alpes I think?) where Cav was last man in, way outside the time cut, but he refused the broom wagon and finished becuase "you respect the race". I liked him already but hw went way up in my estimation for that.
Looking forward to your daily posts already, @lunge 🙂
And what's happened to the thread OP, @CaptainFlashheart ?
Quick plug for Cure Leukaemia who are the first ever official charity for the tdf and they have a cracking prize draw with 21 different cycling prizes including a Pinarello Dogma F12.
edit - I'm also following a guy on Strava doing the organised whole 21 stages 1 week ahead of the real thing. He just did the stage 5 TT and came across the Ineos bus with the back stage crew scoping out the route.
Michelton-Bike Exchange-Orica-Greenedge have a new major sponsor who isn't Gerry Ryan - an arm of the Saudi Government.
Michelton-Bike Exchange-Orica-Greenedge have a new major sponsor who isn’t Gerry Ryan – an arm of the Saudi Government.
This has been raised several times in relation to the way the entire sport is funded - basically teams are so grateful for cash they can rarely justify asking awkward questions about where it's coming from which opens the door to all manner of dodgy deals from billionaires seeking to launder a bit of money to regimes and large corporations trying to sportwash their image.
Do you think, ISN stump up the cash for Cav to ride to give Froome someone to talk to in the Autobus ?
Did anyone watch the Team Presentation? I know it's always dull but that was dreadful. It seems Brittany has just discovered Motherf..... rap.
