you can't compare them like that - they're two different animals. It's like saying - what's best, zebras or rhinos. It's daft.
Is Cav truly great?
- Thread starter tigger
- Start date
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OP
OP
tigger
Über Member
Why not? I'm not asking if Cav is a great sprinter (Leopard) or a prolific winner (Tiger) but whether he is a Lion
Hip Priest
Veteran
Is Cav truly great? Yes. He's the greatest sprinter of all time. Is he up there with the great all-rounders Coppi & Merckx? Obviously not. But who is?
Booyaa
Veteran
- Location
- South Staffordshire
Yes. To Cav and Merckx.
Boris Bajic
Guest
Cav is right up there.
We are starting to get used to what he does, because we've seen him do it.
There have been sprinters for many a decade and there were the ones who could eke out or blast out a win when everyone else was right there.
But when he's really on it, Cav has something quite extraordinary.
He is well on the way to being a 'great'. In some ways he is there now, but if his career path continues as it has been going, he will retire a great.
We are starting to get used to what he does, because we've seen him do it.
There have been sprinters for many a decade and there were the ones who could eke out or blast out a win when everyone else was right there.
But when he's really on it, Cav has something quite extraordinary.
He is well on the way to being a 'great'. In some ways he is there now, but if his career path continues as it has been going, he will retire a great.
Pedrosanchezo
Veteran
- Location
- Perthshire, scotland
Exciting times in cycling with some amazing talents coming through the ranks in GB and abroad. Sagan everyone knows about and home talents such as Rowe and Locke. There are plenty more but all yet to prove their worth. Cav has an amazing record and should be considered one of the fastest sprinters of all time. With a large lead out or not!
Why he cannot climb? You cannot be both. The fastest sprinter or a mountain goat. Different breeds altogether. Much like comparing Usain Bolt to Mo Farah. Each excels in their own specialty.
I for one think he is amazing to watch. He see's openings others don't and has the timing of a Rolex. Rarely misses a pulse.
Erm so, YES.
Why he cannot climb? You cannot be both. The fastest sprinter or a mountain goat. Different breeds altogether. Much like comparing Usain Bolt to Mo Farah. Each excels in their own specialty.
I for one think he is amazing to watch. He see's openings others don't and has the timing of a Rolex. Rarely misses a pulse.
Erm so, YES.
MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
I would say yes great as well, I was particularly impressed with one of the TdF stages he won this year. The cameras were all focused on the remaining breakaway at the front as they wound it up and went for it. Then Cav appears in the background leaping from one wheel to another to finally go by the leaders as if they were static. It displayed a mixture of nous and power that was truly impressive.
OP
OP
tigger
Über Member
Agreed. That was fantastic to watch
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Irrespective of whether he is great or not, he's looking a bit porky. He could do with losing a few kgs.
Booyaa
Veteran
- Location
- South Staffordshire
Yep, without a team lead out in sight. He is good enough to latch on to someone else and does not need to rely on his team all the time. No doubt he would prefer his own team to release him exactly where is best but he proven that is not always necessary.
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Mark doesn't just win his sprints, he leaves his rivals for dead. Watching the overhead shots shows just how much faster than everyone else he is.
thom
____
- Location
- The Borough
I think the 2010 Champs Elysee win is the most spectacular:
His HTC lead out is spent having done all the work to bring back the breakaway. Cav was swamped amidst Hushovd's and Petacchi's lead outs amongst others, not well placed.
Then Tony Martin pops up from nowhere and drags Cav to around fifth place going into the final corner. A phenomenal job. But what comes next is exactly as you say, he just leaves them for dead.
The TdF has finished on the Champs Elysee since 1979. Nobody has won it in consecutive years until Cav came along. He has it 4 times in a row now.
MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
Even knowing the foreshortening effect of the head on camera I'm still gobsmacked when I see the overhead. It's when you get a decent length of overhead and then realise just how fast all the other riders are travelling when he leaps away.
Pedrosanchezo
Veteran
- Location
- Perthshire, scotland
Sagan has gone head to head with him a few times. I don't think, on 2012 form, there is a massive difference between them but i would say Cav edges it. Again this is just what we have seen when they both have been present at a sprint.
Cav has proved it all and is still doing so. Sagan may have just been in supreme form. Only time will tell if Sagan can go on to be as good as or even better than Cav. He is so versatile that its hard to say which way his career will go anyway.
