dsw

I wonder how much credit for the much improved performance of the team this year must go to Bjarne Riis?

He is currently the third ranked sprinter in the team behind Nizzolo and Walscheid so his opportunities might be limited.

Very clever indeed, and now the lead out man leads the race too.

I wish everybody were like that. It is quite scary when a rider ahead of you start searching for food in the pocket of his cycling shirt while the bunch is descending at over 70km per hour

It does, but under the circumstances I think the new route is the best the organisers could have done. At least the course is not easier than the original one and will give those who want to improve their Cycle Tour seeding ample opportunity.

That is correct. I find the section from the N7 to Vissies mentally harder than the actual climbs up Vissies and Odendaals.

True.. and it has happened. But rather that then a car plowing into a huge bunch of slower riders on the N2.

Lets hope the weatherman is right about the wind and wrong about the temperature.

Sadly he has not really set the world alight in terms of results and therefore the top teams are not going to queue for his signature. If I had a pro team the only South African I would sign without thinking twice is Impey.

He is far too good to be third in line when it comes to team selection (sprints) for the big races so the sooner he gets out of Bora the better for him.

Based on his current form a top 30 will be an overachievement for him.

Did you not see the smiley?

Yeah, it was a tough one.. if he pulled the whole group across then his teammate Lawless who was in the group ahead would have complained ..you cannot win them all

So you admit that he did make a contribution (work) in the front although it was short. That is what I saw as well

I have no problem with British cycling decision as It is clear that Chris Lawless is currently in better form than Cav. Re Dimension Data it is a different story as their other riders are also not performing. Cav took a lot of flak for pulling out of the Tour of Poland but nobody seems to have noticed that he was in fact the only rider in the team who managed a top 10 position during any stage of the race. Anyway, the season is nearly over and he will be out of TDD soon so lets see how they go next year.

It was mentioned in the media beforehand that Cav was going to work for Chris Lawless during the race. Those who have watched the race would have noticed his efforts in the front of the chase doing just that. His final result should be seen against this background.

Oops, but we are sensitive today... i stated my opinion on the issue and that is all there is to it. If it gives you joy to have the same old go at the same sport star over and over again please do not let my opinion stop you from having fun.

We have almost certainly seen the best of Cavendish but it is becoming a bit tiring to see how armchair critics continue to use him as a human punching bag. As this topic is about TDD why not rather focus on the non performances of Gasporotto or O'Conner who lost 15-21 minutes respectively yesterday on a course that was supposed to suit them instead of abusing a sprinter who pulled out in order to freshen up for an upcoming championship race?

Based on his performances over the last few years a top 20 overall finish at the Vuelta will be a very good result for him.. a top 30 is probably more realistic. O Conner is also not living up to the hype. The rider from TDD who has made the most progress this year who I can think of is Stefan de Bod. Perhaps because there were not much expectations or hype.

He managed a 3rd overall in Austria ....not bad at all... 70 UCI points.

A place that produced the Beatles and Steven Gerrard cannot be that bad can it?

She is not a Scouse. I think you might confuse her with Coleen Rooney Not that there is anything wrong with Liverpool. YNWA.

We are dealing with human emotions ..... top champions in any sport are very seldom the meek and mild type who just accept things and "go quietly into the night". A person needs to put him or herself into Cavendish's shoes.... the massive effort that he put in to beat the sickness and to be in a position to try and challenge for the record and then this disappointment. Also the fact that the team selection was obviously not straight forward , in fact the performance director and team principle are now contradicting themselves in the media about the issue. Also the fact that other non - performers were selected for the team. I am not saying the decision to drop him from the team was wrong but I can understand the reaction of his camp and in some media circles. There are no winners here and that include Doug Ryder who should have managed this issue much better.

This bloke played a key part in 3 out of the 4 stages that Mark Cavendish won during the 2016 TdF. Why should he have retired then? It is not his fault that things went haywire for Cavendish from then on.

True, but as the overall decision maker who hires and fires staff including riders Doug has also not covered himself in any glory specially over the last year.