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.
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
10 thoughts on “Cav’s frustration boils over as bike and helmet end up on ground”
Poor baby
Poor baby 😐
pathetic. If he is having a
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
The main reason the press
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.
The next couple of the weeks
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.
He’s gone from winning at
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.
Pram > rattle.
Pram > rattle.
I think he should practice
I think he should practice throwing.
Has anyone not considered
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?
What a load of crap.
What a load of crap.
didums …..
didums …..