Cav ALMOST pulled up too early. Wow.
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Wout almost slipped in. But yeah a perfect leadout.
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In the flats, thatâs the key. H
Quickstep is the best team in cycling. Cav executed⌠but the team put him in a flawless position.
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Yep, I did wonder whether he was celebrating a little early.
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Never mind the sprint, itâs his positioning from 40k out and his ability (and teams) to just move up and down at will. Every roundabout they move to the front to lessen the effort required on the exit.
Chasing Legends is a superb movie if you havenât seen it. The DQS train is the modern day High Road. Beautiful to watch.
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NahâŚfront-on shots make it look closer than it really is. Cav had that handily, at least half a wheel.
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How do you not love Cav? Dude is so classy and humble.
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One to tie, two to break it.
Yeah, agree about Quickstep. Love those guys.
Serious question (not being a troll, even though Iâve never really been a fan of Cavâs personalityâŚhis palmarès speak for themselves):
Is Cav winning because there are really no other serious sprinters in the field? I mean, where are all the other pure sprinters? (Ewan crashed out, but heâs not the only one, is he?)
I think it comes mostly down to his experience with how to position himself. And also his team doing a much better job in the lead out than any other team.
You could see that in the first Stage he won and Ewan crashed⌠both Sagan and Ewan were quite out of position compared to Cav
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That is certainly part of itâŚfor the Tour, a lot of the bigger sprinters are missing. Bennet (obviously), Groenenwagen, Viviani, Gaviria, etc. Ewan crashed out and Sagan is below his best.
But success breeds success as wellâŚOnce Cav got that first win, it changed both his and the teamâs mindset. Theya re firing on all cylinders.
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Experience on positioning and the best lead out team is why. Cav is in the right headspace to finish it off.
You see this in other sports. A motorcycle racer or a driver gets a win after a drought and then they go on a tear.
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Entertaining last 15minutes, but tomorrow we go back to the real stuff, the climbs AND the descends are going to be amazing.
Cheers
OK, this is really what was getting at and why I asked. I keep watching these bunch sprint finishes and not hearing names I am used to hearing these last two years, so I keep thinking: âwhereâs such-and-suchâŚof course he out-sprinted WVA (but just barely. LOL), âŚor whateverâ.
Makes sense.
And yeah, no doubt having QuickStep be your lead out doesnât hurt, and also experience, positioning, etc. Heâs got a lot of things going for him this year. But legs are legs. And age is age. Without those other names, not hard to see why heâs dominating. Good for him. I think he would have plucked a win or two even with a fully stacked field, but now it makes it seem like all the naysayers were SOOOOO wrongâŚwell, not really. Youâve just got a little luck on you side this year, Mark.
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Oh yeah that´s totally true. You also have seen that with other sprinters in cycling. Confidence is really important in sprinting.
Too bad Robbie McEwen isnât calling the race this year (at least on peacock/nbc stream).
(no disrespect to simon gerrans, who Iâve really enjoyed)
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Awesome finish from Mark - going to be a brave person to bet against him at least equalling the record this year 
Looking forward to Ventoux tomorrow - glad the weather forecast here is rain so I have an excuse to stay in and watch it 
TBF Bennett and Groenewagen would have missed the time cut (most likely) Cav is quite a decent climber, you have to be there at the end, its not always the fastest, its the fastest one still there at the end.
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Looks like Sagan going to Total TDF rumor mill: Peter Sagan will join Team TotalEnergies - CyclingTips
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