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news
Mark Cavendish helmet.pngCav's frustration boils over as bike and helmet end up on ground
Mark Cavendish yesterday showed his frustration with what is turning out to be a nightmare season by throwing his bike to the ground and his helmet out of the HTC-Columbia team coach at the end of Stage 4 of the Tour de France in Reims.
Moments before, the Manxman had been well beaten in the sprint by Lampre-Farnese Vini’s Alessandro Petacchi, with Cavendish crossing the line in 12th position after seeming to ease of once the Italian had passed him.
Unfortunately for Cavendish, whose more vocal critics seem to fail to acknowledge not only the catalogue of problems he has faced in the past year but also the fact that he is riding the Tour de France despite receiving some serious road rash wounds in the Tour of Switzerland last month, the episode was caught on camera by several film crews – here’s Norwegian broadcaster 2 Sporten’s take on it on it.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 1 hour 23 min ago
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
- lonpfrb 1 hour 43 min ago
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
- lonpfrb 2 hours 9 min ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 2 hours 55 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 3 hours 23 min ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 4 hours 4 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
- ktache 4 hours 43 min ago
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
- Veganpotter 5 hours 40 min ago
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 6 hours 56 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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10 comments
didums .....
What a load of crap.
Has anyone not considered that he might have been desperate for a shit, hence the dropping of the bike, and that his helmet got dislodged and fell out of the bus as he ploughed his way down the aisle fighting off his lycra whilst trying not to spill any steaming hot gravy?
I think he should practice throwing.
Pram > rattle.
He's gone from winning at will, seemingly, to a nightmare of a year both personally and professionally, and when it comes to it, he's still pretty young.
I hope the team are helping him through it, and he's getting his head straight, regardless of how the racing pans out for him.
The next couple of the weeks will be critical for Cav. If he continues his petulance he'll be of the right frame of mind to quit this Tour. However, if he buckles down and finishes, accepts that this year he's not going to win the Green Jersey nor possibly more than a single sprint it'll be much to his credit and the making of him. He started this Tour as the 'Boy-Racer', he could finish it as a man.
The main reason the press (and everyone else) gives him stick is because he talks himself up - "I'll just go at 85% instead of 80%". If he came in saying "It's been a difficult run-up to the Tour, but I'll be giving it everything for the green jersey and we'll see how it goes" then people might lay off him. As it is, he doesn't seem to be giving it everything for green (as he claimed he would) - he cruised to the line on Tuesday missing out on valuable points, and then sat up yesterday, again missing out on points. It's a disappointing attitude - he claimed he was going all out for green but appears to have given up as soon as it looked like there was a battle for it.
I really enjoyed Cav's drama over the last few years (including his cock-ups - shows he is human), but I'm finding it hard to like his attitude this year. Hushovd is looking more and more like the class act, and Petacchi is looking like the fastest bunch sprinter.
pathetic. If he is having a bad season then work hard and get back on form...throwing your toys out of the pram (or helmet out of the bus) isnt going to solve anything
Poor baby