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Simply phenomenal. If you haven’t seen highlights of today’s record breaking Tour Dr France stage win, I suggest you do so. It will stand for a very long time indeed and he may yet extend it.
I’m not exactly a cycling nut but I do enjoy ‘Le Tour’ and as sports fans I’m sure anyone here can appreciate greatness when they see it.
It has to be up there in terms of great achievements by British athletes (yes he’s Manx but he represented GB at the Olympics).
If I had to make a list of the most tedious sports to watch, I would have formula one and cycling right at the top.
I would just ask if there is any greatness associated with the sport isn’t it bestowed on those who actually win the event.
Even though I haven’t followed the sport I had heard of Eddie Merckx from a very young age. Surely his achievements are on a different planet to Cavendish?
I watch some of the coverage on Eurosport. I don’t know a thing about cycling but I like France. Seeing the French villages and scenery makes for enjoyable viewing.
Two very different cyclists stilvi but both brilliant in their own right. Merckx was a GC (General Classification) competitor who went on to win five TDFs and won his 34 stage wins between 1969 and 1975. Cavendish took much longer gaining his first win in 2008 and has no hope in a hell of winning a TDF but has a couple of green jerseys (sprint champion).
So yes overall Merckx was the better all round cyclist but as he was that good he could win stages with not much opposition.
Every stage Cavendish won was against top class sprinters and speed is not always the answer. Positioning yourself and a lot of luck can be involved. Cavendish’s positioning on his last win was fantastic although he still showed he had the speed when he hit the front.
People sometimes don’t understand just how much a team sport cycling is and I’m sure both would put their wins down to having a great team around them.
Absolutely Cork, it’s a dream three weeks for the French tourist board.
I was not comparing Merckx and Cavendish beyond the raw numbers which is a matter of fact. Both are great in their own right in different ways and comparison is pointless. There are only ever a handful of riders in a given year who are capable of winning it, teams are built around them just as Cavendish’s has been built around him to get the record this year.
Even a single stage win is a prestigious thing and any pro road cyclist would snap your hand off for one. It’s one bike race and 21 bike races at the same time, plus the jersey competitions. Plenty of subplots beyond the overall race winner.
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