Not really, but is this his Olympic road race replacement which will launch him to Sir Brad status in the British media?

How very dare you!!!

Bad dog

*shakes fist*

Does he not already have a pretty high status with the British media? Can’t see him (or anyone) getting ‘Brad like’ status.

LOL…

Not sure on the media darling thing though. Brad is more ‘interesting’ to the media than Cav is, especially as he’s been more circumspect after stages recently.

🙄

5 minutes to change title and regain some “non-tit”ground.

Cav has more wins than Brad, is one Tour win worth multiple stages to the uninitiated?

Were you not getting enough attention RD?

Cav has an interesting way of dealing with any journos who ask him questions who aren’t experts on cycling – kinda sneers at them – or is that just when he loses?!

You don’t help yourself do you?

Cav has more wins than Brad, is one Tour win worth multiple stages to the uninitiated?

Yup, unless Cav wins the yellow jumper he’ll not be on the same level as Wiggins.

Cav has an interesting way of dealing with any journos who ask him questions who aren’t experts on cycling – kinda sneers at them – or is that just when he loses?!

He’s only gone off at journos who haven’t put the effort in once or maybe twice that I can remember. The most famous being after the Olympics, and I really don’t blame him for that, I’d of done the same.

I was going to say he looked fit as a fiddle going up Holme Moss yesterday.

Right that’s it….I’m going to explode tour juice all over the place.
I’m doing Holme Moss tonight

He’s over the bronchitis that kept him out of the British champs then?

Cav – points jersey in each of the grand tours plus a WC road race jersey.

Wiggins – GC jersey in one grand tour plus an IOC time trial.

Roughly right? I know I’ve skipped the track stuff, but for high level road riders including track wins is like including the under 21s wins. Similarly no minor tours. Though I probably should have included the classics – Cav has one I think, can’t remember about Wiggins.

On that basis, Cav is the greatest current British road rider.

The greatest ever British cyclist? Beryl maybe?

Cav won MSR & has a vast palmares of stage wins, I think he’s under valued but then most of the people I work with can’t understand why he can win 5 tour stages but not the overall

int Cav a bit past it now?

Cav has a glamour model wife as well as being very successful, surely that should put him up there with the best footballers in the British media.

Maybe it’s his sock tan that’s holding him back!!

He reckons he’s lost his aero advantage – Kittel, Greipel, Demare and others will be up there, a lot depending on a bit of luck really. Love the way Cav manages to find his way through the riders in the last few hundred metres.

I’d hate to be up against Cav wearing the Yellow Jersey after stage one I bet he’s super motivated, even more than usual if that’s possible

they seem to be behind him in the Southern enclave of Yorkshire that is Harrogate

Kittel definitely had the edge last season, Cav’s not had the luck this year, interesting to see how the Tour goes. Green will be Sagan’s again I reckon, sadly. I don’t think Cav’s too old, just that a couple of younger guys have appeared and spoiled a lot of his fun.

He certainly appears to lead more of a rockstar lifestyle than Wiggins – glamour model wife, drives an Audi R8 etc.

On that basis, Cav is the greatest current British road rider.

Potentially yes. Historically the problem has been that the British public only considered the Olympics as important and don’t really understand how you can win 5 stages and finish in the bottom half of the event.

Wiggins – GC jersey in one grand tour plus an IOC time trial.

Roughly right?

Not quite – Wiggins has won more races outright.

Cavendish major wins

Stage races

Ster ZLM Toer (2012)
Tour of Qatar (2013)

One-day races and Classics

Milan – San Remo (2009)
Grote Scheldeprijs (2007, 2008, 2011)
Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne (2012)
National Road Race Championships

Wiggins major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France

Stage races

Herald Sun Tour (2009)
Critérium du Dauphiné (2011, 2012)
Paris–Nice (2012)
Tour de Romandie (2012)
Tour of Britain (2013)
Tour of California (2014)

One-day races and Classics

National Time Trial Championships (2009, 2010, 2014)
National Road Race Championships (2011

Not quite – Wiggins has won more races outright.

Mmmm, now that depends if you count a grand tour victory alone as a race win, or individual stages as a race win. Generally each stage is treated as a discrete ‘race’ in this context, ergo Cav’s won more. A little bit of splitting hairs there though.

Cav did have quite a nice stripey rainbow jersey too, I think he won a race to get that…

He’s won quite a few points jerseys too, it’s a little unfair to say he’s won less because he doesn’t win GC, he’s not that sort of rider.

Not really splitting hairs at all – each stage win counts as a win on the palmares, that’s the standard way to do it. Hence Cav has won more races unless you do some convoluted thing of only counting stage race GCs.

Meanwhile, given Cav has already been SPOTY it’s hard to see what could possibly raise his profile any higher than it is – he’s never going to be a Wiggo.

comparing Cav with Wiggo is like comparing Mo Farah with Usain Bolt, or Chirozo with a Cumberland Sausage.

Cav did have quite a nice stripey rainbow jersey too, I think he won a race to get that…

I did notice that after I posted the list. Wikipedia obviously doesn’t count it as a major win!

it’s a little unfair to say he’s won less because he doesn’t win GC, he’s not that sort of rider.

I agree. I’m just trying to point out that its a bit hard to argue one is “the best British rider”. One is obviusly better at winning stage races overall, while the other is better at stage wins.

And in the context of good performance, is 9th in the Paris-Roubaix a better ride than a flat stage win in the TDF?

http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/update/2014-07-03/mark-cavendish-trains-in-harrogate-ahead-of-le-tour/

His mother is from Harrogate, so he is not going to disappoint.

“…launch him to Sir Brad status in the British media?”

Sir who? is that the guy who trailed in the wake of http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/sports-personality/16303729

LOL on the thread title.

I would say Cav’s record doesn’t match Brads due to the Olympic successes. I would put Cav a long way ahead of Froome even if he does win the tour again.

I would put Cav a long way ahead of Froome even if he does win the tour again.

I thought we were only comparing the reputations of British riders 😆

Yellow jersey is the only Grand Tour GC jersey Cav hasn’t worn too…

but then most of the people I work with can’t understand why he can win 5 tour stages but not the overall

does that not make your colleagues idiots?

That’s not really in doubt, when asked yesterday who was PM one girl said is it Tony Blair?…no, Gordon Brown?

does that not make your colleagues idiots?

Most of my colleagues don’t understand how a grand tour can have five or six seperate competitions running at the same time. But then I don’t understand the rules of rugby.

It just depends what you are interestd in.

Rules of rugby? Simples. The referee was right. Whatever he said and whatever the replay might appear to show.

It just depends what you are interestd in.

my comment may have sounded harsh but this isn’t a knockout competition, it’s a 3week long event where they actually compete over 3 weeks (as opposed to a few football matches spread out over an inordinately long 4 weeks 😉 ) so individual wins don’t necessarily mean anything much at all.
I don’t know much about F1 but I’d wager you could win the championship without winning a single race – or not win it after winning a few races.

not knowing about the various other competitions inside the tdf itself is fair enough i reckon

Cav is probably the the greatest sprinter ever.

A rainbow jersery, a classic and more TdF stage victories than anyone if you exclude time trials and the points jersery in each grand tour.

As a profesional cyclist he is one of the greatest of all time.

As comparable achivements Brad has won one GT and a number of second teir events that rank slightly below a classic but are still worth having. A GC winner fininshing top 10 in Paris Roubaix is a fairly remarkable achivement in this era of specialists so he is certainly A list but he isn’t “the greatest” at anything or at least he hasn’t sustained greatness on the road.

He does capture the British public’s imagination though, partly becuase of the Olympics but mostly through being first. He was part of the early rise of track cycling from Syndey onwards, he was the first Brit to win the TdF etc.

Wiggins will always have a bigger profile in the UK due to being the first British tour winner plus the once in a lifetime event of a home Olympics a week afterwards.

However Cavendish will have the bigger profile elsewhere from cycling fans around the world who will already consider him one of the best sprinters ever, even if he wasn’t to win another thing in his career.

I think one GT points jersey equals one GT GC jersey – in my mind at least.

The points boys are also rans in the GC, but generally the reverse is true too.

So different but equivalent. And these days you don’t win either without a decent, dedicated team.

Edit: the vice versa also rans comment may not have applied 30-40 years ago.