Was a pretty dumb move but he's got eve more media coverage now…whether it works for him is another thing.

Maybe he pointed his hand the wrong way…

He's proved he is good on the bike but also an idiot which is a shame.

I like him… makes the sport a lot more interesting. OK maybe he can be a bit of a cock but I admire his confidence and he usually backs it up with decent results.

Road racing would be duller without him.

I'd rather have dull.

I think he's a bit of a cock, but I can't say I particuarly dislike him. Cycling's better for having him, that's for sure.

You could say the same about a lot of sportsmen, Cristiano Ronaldo for example, seems a bit of an idiot off the pitch but entertaining to watch on it. Alonso and Hamilton are similar.

Such a shame to ruin a good victory by doing something so stupid 🙁

Whilst i recognise him as a good cyclist, I'm not a fan myself.

I'm glad that his team took a stand though and removed him from the tour, but I wonder if that was more down to sponsors rather than team wishes.

I was saw a group of roadies out the other day and one of them copied Cav's actions and they all chuckled away to themselves.

Talented sprinter, but his legs clearly left his brain behind sometime ago.
That was a totally dumb ass thing to do, lets face it he crossed the line and told everyone to f*** off.
As for the book, I can only assume it's up there with Jordans.

Dare I say it but I actually found the book really interesting. I think he's a bit of an idiot on occasions (such as with his 2 finger salute, although I did laugh!) but he probably is immature. He's hugely successful at a young age, at least he isn't out beating people up and committing a variety of other criminal offences like certain other sportsmen, plus it's nice to have a Brit at the top of his game in cycling and I will continue to support him and cheer.

Sprint finishes in the Tour this year should be good.

I'm a fan.
I'd like to think his ego doesn't get much bigger that at present, but I thought the vickies gesture was pretty funny -if any of you have ever met a sports journalist (especially the average football-focused British ones) its better than they deserve.
Theres many more nasty pieces of work within the pro cycling scene than Cav. (at least he doesn't dictate to his team which brand of coffee they can drink or what haircut they're allowed)

He has seemed a bit of dick when I've heard him interviewed. If he hadn't become a cyclist I'm not sure a career which required the use of his noggin was ever going to be on the cards. I remember the likes of Millar & Wiggins ripping the piss out of him in interviews during his first tour for being so naive and gullible.

But then again, I've never been a big fan of sprinters – just doesn't seem an honourable way to win a stage in my opinion. Give me a lone breakaway merchant or at least a member of small breakaway that out sprints his former collaborators to the line any day.

I remember the likes of Millar & Wiggins ripping the piss out of him in interviews during his first tour for being so naive and gullible.

Aye, cause they've won how many stages of the Tour between them?

I don't particularly like or dislike the guy – never met him to have a personal opinion about him. He seems pretty gobby at interview, but I seem to recall him being prepared to publicly apologise for some comment he made last year. Given he's a talented lad in a world of proven drug cheats, I'd rather have my kids looking up to him than some of the EPO bunnies.

Millar at the time – 3. Cav at the time – 0. Why is that important?

(Mr MC posting)

he is passionate, hotheaded and immature but also has some awareness of that. After dissing thor hushovd for having to make an appeal in order to win a stage, thor rode off on his own and proved he is a better all-round rider than Cav. Cav then approached him in parc ferme, apologised and said as much.

If he was 100% c*ck he wouldnt have thought it necessary or appropriate to do that.

I would also ask the cynical question that was he punished by being withdrawn from stages he would not have competed in? He's also generating wider press interest in the sport, and anything that isnt a drugs expose is good publicity.

Hero, anyone that sprints out of a bunch doing 40mph+ has to be respected
and the books well worth reading

Hero.

Probably some **** in an Audi/BMW cut him up 😉

He has a lot of growing up to do, he's good at what he does (proved himself last year) and will make stupid mistakes like that photo for a couple of years.

Cock? No, there are, and have been in the past, and will be (pardon the expression) bigger cocks in the peloton that Cav.

If the commisaires don't like it, they can penalise him.

Most people's impressions of him must surely be derived from the media?

I remember seeing an interview of him on the TDF last year where he clearly showed his passion and knowledge of the sport, did his research on his rivals and how they operate and came across as confident in his own ability.

At that level of sport confidence and arrogance are part of the arsenal of weapons available. If you're not bigging yourself up then you probably don't have the self belief.

Millar at the time – 3. Cav at the time – 0. Why is that important?

Cav aint a druggy cheat though ¬!!

It could have been worse ie. the finger!

Some people are too easily offended 🙄

Cav [strike]aint[/strike] hasn't been found to be a druggy cheat yet though ¬!!

fixed it

I saw a cyclist give 'the finger' to a motorist who had the audacity to beep his horn at him for riding a red light and swerving to avoid a pedestrian.

Pretty sure this thing would never have happened without Cav setting the precedence. I have never seen behaviour like this in all my time, completely outrageous. Lock him up I say.

Another idea might be to replace any potential personalities with Indurain-style robots. That’d liven things up a bit, and make for safe family viewing.

The two fingers was a bit OTT especially with families spectating but I also think it's refreshing for someone not to be stifled by a PR machine. He can come across as a dick when interviewed straight after a stage but he's just telling things straight as he sees them, away from races he actually comes across as pretty mature when interviewed.

I'd still rather see Cav stick 2 fingers up than Vino win a classic…

I like Cav – I remember one of his early interviews after a stage win at the TdF. He was sitting on the grass being interviewed and his phone rang. He said "I can't talk now mum – I'm on the telly"

His stage win on the Champs Elysees was an amazing show of power – after Big George peeled off Cav almost wheelspun away.

🙂

(Funnily enough one of my other fav wins on the Champs Elysees was the Vino break a few years ago – but we won't talk about that now)

😉

He's British, of course we dont like him! All this winning is bad form and we need to bring him down a peg. Bloody hell you will be expecting us to celebrate success soon!

This fella did a similar thing!
The irony is the press will love it, the sponsors will love it and it will probably do him more good than harm, in the grand scheme of things its relatively harmless.

He's a Cock and a one trick pony.

the sponsors will love it

Well, following his childish display of petulance, I've cancelled my order for a HTC 'phone, and won't now be buying a Scott bike. I'm sure I'm not alone in making these decisions, either.

So there.

Well, following his childish display of petulance, I've cancelled my order for a HTC 'phone, and won't now be buying a Scott bike. I'm sure I'm not alone in making these decisions, either.

So there.

You are a sensitive soul! However I am sure the balance will be redressed given the additinal publicity this has brought about.

a one trick pony.

What – he only rides road bikes?

no – he only wins stages/races.

oh…

of course they all love it really… got his pic on here didnt it? no such thing as bad publicity etc…

I don't much like the attitude. It's a sad business when coverage of a British rider winning things is dominated by the fact that he's decided to be a tool.

Also, the total lack of understanding shown in his book about why skipping out of competition tests matters is infuriating. Everybody who skips a control "just forgot", no-one's going to say "well if I get tested like that it'll pick up that I'm doing a quick course of 'roids". So anyone who wants to be presumed to be clean can't afford to be flippant about the issue.

So anyone who wants to be presumed to be clean can't afford to be flippant about the issue.

Call me cycnical but surely they all want to be 'presumed to be clean', it's just that some are lucky, some are stupid and some are waaay ahead of the game on that front.

True…

For clarity, I'm absolutely not suggesting that Cavendish is a doper.

He's a Cock and a one trick pony.

What's that supposed to mean?
You want him to win mountain stages too? or maybe time trials?
What a clown!

Cav is very good at what he does, the best in the world in fact. so he's arrogant and very confident in his own ability, good I say, you need to be at the top level of sport, he just doesn't hide it as well as others do.

yes he's good

yes we like him (mostly)

yes, what he did was daft

why are so many British sportsmen a bit thick?

I think he's alright. If journos had slagged him off (they can be really bad) then he's perfectly right to show his displeasure when the spotlight's on him. Absolutely fair enough.

I've learned in life that everyone presents a certain front to the world, and it's up to you to learn how to read that and understand what's behind it. After having seen some interviews with him I can completely empathise.

TBH – if the press are winding him up, he'd be well advised to start sucking up to them a bit more
Normally I'd say stand up to them but I really don't believe he has the maturity or constitution yet to beat them at that game
He's just not up to it, the more he baits them, the more they'll come after him – they'll get to him in the end & leave him a jibbering wreck if he's not careful

why are so many British sportsmen a bit thick?

Spend too much time practicing their sport, and not enough time in school, maybe? I dunno.

Ultra talented, but will never be a real hero, no matter how great he keeps telling us he is.
His ability inspires admiration, but his off the bike whinging does not.

Bit like Carl Fogarty really.