Off Topic Sport Other than Football - formerly the Ashes Thread

Mark Cavendish has just tied for the all-time record of Tour de France stage victories, with 34. A wonderful achievement and he has every chance of taking the record and extending it on this tour.

 

Two stages left he could probably win but it would be fitting to win it in Paris.

 

The best sprinter ever without doubt but not better than merckx , I once heard an interview with Cavdndish where the interviewer asked him if it hurt crashing in a bunch sprint ,he replied yes but not as much as losing which I suppose sums Mark up , well done Mark keep up the good work

 

Merckx has an astonishing record, especially as such an all rounder. Cavendish is also highly impressive though, not just in terms of stage wins and honours, but for a specialist sprinter to drag himself over those climbs and, frankly, make it through the tour in a state still to compete for stage finishes in the way he and others do is incredible. Given the disparity in body types between a sprinter like Cav and the specialist tour riders, it’s amazing the sprinters can make it in the time allowed.

 

So, Djokovic is going to be winning all the Grand Slams unopposed for the next 3-4 years then?

Federer looked broken the other day, Nadal's fallen to pieces, and the rest of the top twenty look like they won't be in line for any big wins for a couple of years at the earliest

 

Djokovic is a great player but he is so boring. I am hoping for an Italian win on Sunday but only at SW19

 

While Djokovic isn't as mechanical as Sampras was, it is hard to warm to Djokovic because rather than play his opponents off the court he just wins with efficiency

Take today's match for example: it was obvious in the first set that his opponents was easy to rattle given the way he carried on about line calls, so Djokovic ground enough unforced errors out of him to break him in the second and third sets

 

I think Belletini has a chance. If the occasion doesn't get to him he may overpower Djokovic.

 

Poirier gets to sleep McGregor for the second time tonight (or tomorrow morning I should say).

Though the real main event is Tai Tuivasa, the man's doing it for the fatletes of the world!

 

No it isn't. They ALL do it (that is why the "bus" exists) .

 

I know UFC is all about reducing your opponent to a bloody pulp, but does McGobshite really have to make so many people want to do that?

 

He’s getting desperate nowadays. Over compensating for his losses by just chatting more and more **** to keep the viewing numbers high.

 

And beating up old blokes in pubs

 

It's an ugly women's tennis final, I won't be watching.

 

True, the work the teams put in to get sprinters over the mountains is also incredible.

 

Usually depends on the size of the "bus" .
Worst for a sprinter is to be in a team with a GC contender
and also too weak to consistently remain in the bus.

 

Absolutely. It’s what makes teams like Sky, when they were in their prime winning yellow jerseys and stages in the TdF at the same time, so impressive.

 

Teams with grand Tour GC aspirations rarely field pure
winning sprinters in their ranks nowadays for this reason.

Offhand I can only recall the Telekom team (Ulrich for GC, Zabel for sprints)
in recent times, and that is going back over a decade.

Which is contrast up to the end times of the 80s / early 90s,
when teams with credible GC contenders would also carry a
good sprinter in their ranks, and be capable of both supporting
the GC cause and at least getting the sprinter to the final stage.

 

Alaphilippe might have been considered a GC contender at the start. Great to see him working for Cav as soon as he wasn’t.

 

And this is why