Stage 4: SPOILER

[Noodley]

Thor looks to be in MIGHTY SMASHING form, Cav isn't showing any kind of form. Yet.

 

[Chuffy]

Thor looks to be in MIGHTY SMASHING form, Cav isn't showing any kind of form. Yet.

He even throws helmets like a gurl.

 

[Chuffy]

Cav reminds me of Lewis Hamilton the year after he won the championship. Full of bravado but realising that there's other pressures over raw talent.

Yeah, like having a crap car. Not sure that Cav has that excuse.

 

[Chuffy]

Lewis made mistakes that were nothing to do with the equipment.

But surely most of the pressure came from the fact that the 2009 Mclaren was a dog? And frustrated drivers make mistakes.

I get your point, but lets have a scrap anyway.

 

[Chuffy]

He's an impetuous gob shite - let's be honest :-)

Cav? Yup.

Yeh let's have a scrap but cant be more subtle cos on an iPhone

Don't you have the Win Pointless Argument app?

 

[iAmiAdam]

We're making all this stuff up about cav, conspiracies, it might just be a simple crappy gear change, then he couldn't make the ground, we'll see how he is tomorrow, then either carry on or stop the slating of him.

 

[laurence]

dang, Amets Txurruka out. i was hoping for a stage win for him this year. he broke a collar bone in the crash today (he did finish).

 

[iAmiAdam]

Kudos to him for finishing with a broken collar bone, I'd of thrown my teddies out the pram and gone straight to hospital.

 

[zimzum42]

Kudos to him for finishing with a broken collar bone, I'd of thrown my teddies out the pram and gone straight to hospital.

That's nothing, this guy is hard...

From BigRingRiding

FIRENZO MAGNI: I CONSIDER MY GREATEST WIN MY SECOND PLACE IN GC AT THE GIRO OF 1956, MY LAST YEAR AS A PRO.

VALERIA PAOLETTI: You were a very brave second in that incredible Giro. Tell us what happened.

FM: DURING STAGE 12, FROM GROSSETO TO LIVORNO, I CRASHED ON THE DESCENT OUT OF VOLTERRA AND BROKE MY LEFT COLLARBONE. AT THE HOSPITAL THEY SAID I SHOULD PUT ON A PLASTER CAST AND QUIT. BUT I DIDN’T WANT TO. SINCE THE NEXT DAY WAS A REST DAY, I TOLD THE DOCTOR TO DO NOTHING AND THAT WE SHOULD WAIT AND SEE. THE DAY AFTER I ASKED THE DOCTOR TO PUT ON AN ELASTIC BANDAGE INSTEAD OF A CAST BECAUSE I WANTED TO TRY TO RIDE THE FOLLOWING STAGE, LIVORNO TO LUCCA. IT WORKED! I WASN’T AMONG THE FIRST RIDERS BUT I FINISHED.

VP: There is the famous picture of your riding holding a piece of inner tube in your mouth during the 13th stage, the individual time trail of San Luca. Can you explain?

FM: JUST BEFORE THE STAGE STARTED I TRIED TO RIDE MY BIKE ON A CLIMB AND I NOTICED I COULDN’T USE THE MUSCLES OF MY LEFT ARM TO PULL ON THE HANDLE BAR VERY HARD. SO MY MECHANIC, FALIERO MASI, THE BEST MECHANIC OF ALL TIME, CUT A PIECE OF INNER TUBE AND SUGGESTED I PULL IT WITH MY MOUTH. THAT WAS A GREAT IDEA!

VP: Then, during Stage 16, from Bologna to Rapallo, through the Apennines, you crashed again and broke your humerus.

FM: YES, I DIDNT HAVE ENOUGH STRENGTH IN MY LEFT ARM AND I CRASHED AFTER HITTING A DITCH BY THE ROAD. I FELL ON MY ALREADY BROKEN BONE AND FAINTED FROM THE PAIN. THE AMBULANCE CAME TO BRING ME TO THE HOSPITAL. IN THE AMBULANCE THEY GAVE ME WATER AND I GOT BACK ON MY FEET. WHEN I REALIZED THAT I WAS BEING TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL I SCREAMED AND TOLD THE DRIVER TO STOP. I DIDN’T WANT TO ABANDON THE GIRO!

I MOUNTED MY BIKE AGAIN AND RESTARTED PEDALING. THE PELOTON HAD WAITED FOR ME, SO I ARRIVED IN RAPALLO IN A RELATIVELY GOOD POSITION. I HAD NO IDEA OF HOW SERIOUS MY CONDITION WAS, I JUST KNEW THAT I WAS IN A LOT OF PAIN BUT I DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE X-RAYS THAT EVENING. DURING THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED I COULD HOLD MY OWN.

VP: You were even able to ride the Stelvio Pass (Stage 19)!

FM: YES, THERE I DIDN’T HAVE PROBLEMS ON THE CLIMB, BUT THE DESCENT WAS HARD. ON THE CLIMB I COULD GO UP AT MY OWN SPEED. AT THAT POINT MY AIM WAS JUST TO FINISH THE GIRO, NOT TO WIN IT OF COURSE. I DIDN’T WANT TO ABANDON THE GIRO IN THE YEAR OF MY RETIREMENT.

VP: Why did you have problems on the descent?

FM: BECAUSE I COULD NOT BRAKE WITH MY LEFT HAND AND I SKIDDED. THAT WAS TOUGH!

VP: Then there was Stage 20 from Merano to Trento, over the Costalunga, Rolle, Brocon and Bondone climbs. Pasquale Fornara was the pink jersey. That day 60 people abandoned! What happened?

FM: IT SNOWED THE WHOLE DAY AND IT WAS VERY COLD, I HAD NOT NOTICED HOW MUCH. ALONG THE WAY I SAW MANY BIKES PARKED NEXT TO BARS AND I ASKED WHAT WAS GOING ON. THEY TOLD ME THAT MOST OF THE PELOTON FROZE AND HAD TO QUIT. THEN, BEFORE REACHING TRENTO I SAW THE PINK JERSEY QUITTING TOO! ‘WHAT?? AM I SEEING THINGS?’ I WONDERED.

IF I WERE THE PINK JERSEY I WOULD HAVE CONTINUED, EVEN IF I HAD TO WALK, BUT I WOULD NEVER ABANDON!

VP: What happened next?

FM: WHEN WE WERE IN TRENTO MY TEAM CAR CAME UP TO ME AND SAID I WAS THIRD. “THIRD?!”, I WONDERED AGAIN. I WAS THIRD THAT DAY AND BECAME SECOND IN THE GC.

VP: Gaul won that stage and went from 16 minutes behind to winning the 1956 Giro.

FM: ACTUALLY, I THOUGHT ABOUT ATTACKING CHARLY GAUL IN THE FOLLOWING STAGES AND TRYING TO WIN MY FOURTH GIRO. I TRIED ATTACKING HIM A COUPLE OF TIMES DURING THE LAST TWO STAGES, BUT HE WAS TOO STRONG.

THE DAY AFTER THE END OF THE GIRO I WENT TO AN INSTITUTE THAT SPECIALIZED IN BONE INJURIES. AND THEY GAVE ME A DRESSING-DOWN! THEY SAID I HAD TWO FRACTURES - I THOUGHT I HAD ONLY ONE - AND FORCED ME TO PUT A PLASTER CAST ON.

THE NEXT DAY I WENT TO MY MACHINE SHOP AND ASKED MY MECHANIC TO CUT THE PLASTER CAST AWAY WITH THE SPECIAL SCISSORS HE USED FOR SHEET METAL. THIS WAY I COULD START TRAINING AGAIN.

 

[Crankarm]

That's nothing, this guy is hard...

From BigRingRiding

Respect.

 

[Willo]

Thor looks to be in MIGHTY SMASHING form, Cav isn't showing any kind of form. Yet.

Must admit that, while I'd like to see Cavendish realise his talent and win the green jersey, I can't help but warm to Hushovd. He's clearly very talented but comes across very well in interviews etc.; never being too cocky or arrogant, dignified etc. While his attitude is a nature of the competitive sport he's in, I think Cavendish could learn a thing or two from Hushovd's media comms. Saying that, the pressure must be huge when a whole set up is geared towards you winning sprint stages.

 

[Sysagent]

Be surprised if Cav finishes the Tour now... What's the point? It's not as if he can win anything now, Thor has too many points in the Green jersey competition and he won't even be able to perform as a domestique as he will be sat in the gruppetto over all the climbs as per any sprinter (apart from Thor).

Of course I could be completely wrong and he sticks at it, Thor et al have some misfortune and he wins the Green Jersey... Stranger things have happened!

 

[John the Monkey]

I wonder if the absence of Hansen has thrown them a bit too, maybe?

whatever the reason, I hope the team are looking after Mr. Cavendish & that he'll find his form again.

After a season where he was seemingly winning at will, breaking Tour & British records, this year must be a sobering experience, to say the least.