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Thread: Tour de France 2021

  1. #21
    Master molehill's Avatar
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    Got to get Cav over the mountains now, might be a close thing but he'll have all the help they can muster.

  2. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Er, here is what I said the day before the start of the race
    Chapeau!
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  3. #23
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Er, here is what I said the day before the start of the race
    Not being picky Marco, but I also had my fingers crossed for him (not wishing ill on Sam as he's a good lad) while he was at his pre TdF training camp in Italy as I knew by then he was in great form.
    That win in the Tour of Belgium was against the best of the current sprinters bar Sam Bennett.

    I was really casting my mind back further. It's been quite sad for the last few years watching him not even contesting the sprints.
    Richard Taylor
    "William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
    Sid Waddell

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    The thing that is truly outstanding is Cavendish's longevity. If you look back over the last 40 years at top sprinters at the Tour de France you see some big names: Freddy Maertens (16 wins), Marcel Kittel (14), Mario Cipollini, Erik Zabel, Robbie McEwen and Peter Sagan (all 12 wins), André Greipel (11), Jean-Paul van Poppel, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov and Tom Steels (both 9 wins)

    None of them were winning stages over a 13 year span, almost all of them had a 4-6 year spell in which they won all their stages. What is even more amazing is that none of them have won even half the number of stages that Cavendish has won.
    It all depends on the data base eg Cipollini would undoubtedly have won far more TdF stages if his team had been allowed to enter by ASO. I am more impressed by complete riders, like Merckx, than Cavendish a 30 second sprinter. Cavendish is a great sprinter but Hinault was a great rider. And of course some might have continued to win stages but decided there was more to life than riding a bike in the TdF.



    TOTAL Grand Tour Stages

    1 MERCKX Eddy 64
    2 CIPOLLINI Mario 57
    3 PETACCHI Alessandro 52
    4 CAVENDISH Mark 51
    5 BINDA Alfredo 43
    6 HINAULT Bernard 41
    7 RODRÍGUEZ Delio 39
    8 GUERRA Learco 39
    9 VAN LOOY Rik 37
    10 MAERTENS Freddy 35
    11 COPPI Fausto 31
    12 GIRARDENGO Costante 30
    13 BARTALI Gino 29
    14 BASSO Marino 27
    15 MOSER Francesco 27
    16 DI PACO Raffaele 27
    17 SARONNI Giuseppe 26
    18 POBLET Miguel 26
    19 BONTEMPI Guido 26
    20 BITOSSI Franco 25
    Last edited by Graham Breeze; 08-07-2021 at 02:39 PM.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post

    One thing the list really did illustrate was a very high proportion of Italian riders, certainly compared to French ones
    Yes well...remind me again...in which century did a French rider last win their own Grand Tour?
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  6. #26
    Master molehill's Avatar
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    Been away (fishing as usual) so missed the last couple of days, back home in time to catch the final 25k and Cav having to work for his result.
    Congratulations to him on a milestone, headbutts and all 😇.

  7. #27
    [QUOTE=Graham Breeze;674892 I am more impressed by complete riders, like Merckx, than Cavendish - a 30 second sprinter. [/QUOTE]

    Eddy Merckx’s total was accumulated on different stages, in a different time, essentially in a different sport. Cavendish said that anybody who tries to compare him with the Cannibal doesn’t know anything about cycling. As Tour director Christian Prudhomme commented in Carcassonne, Merckx is the greatest rider in the Tour’s history and Cavendish is its greatest sprinter.

    This is a record that is both meaningless and meaningful, because by achieving this remarkable feat, Cavendish has transcended the eras of the sport.


    This is from Rouleur which publishes the most insightful,wittiest, measured (and expensive) writing on cycling.
    Last edited by Graham Breeze; 10-07-2021 at 08:37 AM.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  8. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    So long ago I had to think about it. It was 1989 wasn't it Graham?
    Yes. But not many people know that.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  9. #29
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    To try and illustrate how different it was, the 1969 race (won by Merckx) had 26 stages, with 3 days with two stages. The 1970 race, also won by Merckx, had 29 stages with 6 two-stage days. Both editions had zero rest days, so racing every day for 23 days
    They must have had some very good nutritionists back then.
    Richard Taylor
    "William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
    Sid Waddell

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Witton Park View Post
    They must have had some very good nutritionists back then.
    The fags didn't seem to do him any harm either!
    Visibility good except in Hill Fog

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