Cav is not a normal cyclist. Sprinter's generally aren't. They're emotional, prone to bad behaviour, a devil-may-care attitude in the bunch sprint for the line. Cav is all this and more. Reminds me a bit of Tom Cruise.. and that's not a good thing! Or is it? Cav is focused, INTENT on winning. He doesn't have much energy to spare for long interviews or deep insights into his cycling. He keeps all that pent up energy for his bike and the final 200m.
However Cav was beaten fair and square by Andrea Gardini, a young gun from Farnese Vini who was last on yesterday's stage, MAGLIA NERA no less! Now before everyone starts jumping to conclusions about this, about Cav's sprinting prowess (or lack of), I have quite a few things to say in defence of the man:
This Giro was designed SPECIFICALLY to ensure that Cav was at a disadvantage in the sprint stages, by putting in tricky corners in the last 500m of each sprint stage, or some hefty hills a few km's from the end, messing with the sprint train.
Intermediate Sprint points were placed on uphills mostly, rather close to the finish. In fact lets stop talking about SPRINT points and rather just Points, which is what they are, for the POINTS jersey, for the rider that gets the most points on a stage. There is no "Sprinter" in the Giro d'Italia.. Not with all those climbs!
AS for Cav's team, Sky, they don't know the first effing thing about leading out. They've been tired and slow, which has meant that other less powerful teams have managed to muscle in on the final Km, meaning that Cav had to sprint from a lot further back and through a lot of traffic. Normally he's pretty good in those sorts of situations, and in fact can do without a less than perfect sprint train, such is is quality and turn of speed. But what has cost him in this Giro is an inefficient and accident prone sprint train, specifically Gerraint Thomas, who is anything BUT a sprinter. This was certainly the case with Cav's loss to Ferrari, when Gerraint's unclipped pedal half-way through the turn slowed Cav, who was pushing a big gear and couldn't get up to speed to catch Ferrari, who probably knew the corner better anyway.
Then there is the fatigue issue. Cav has a been through a lot, has probably posted a sleepless night with his newly born daughter (unheard of in Italy.. family stay's home until the end of the Giro!!), and has had a really irritating media scrutiny by the Processo alla Tappa, the post Giro stage Variety Show, which keeps on asking him innane questions and insulting him in that very indelicate Italian way. Cav, bravely, has even tried to speak in Italian, which I must say is a truly spectacular thing, as learning a foreign language for Brits is highly improbable task! Sadly the rapid-fire questions and delicate nuances contained therein evade him, and he's forced to give mono-sylabic replies.. Si.. No.. or jump back into English. Cipollini's session with him was particluarly galling, as before Cav came on the show, was criticizing him, and then was all honey when Cav arrived, but in that rather insulting Italian way.. A sort of "You're good, all things considered...". But Chipo didn't hold any punches when he rightly criticized Cav's sprint train, which has in this Giro been his achilles' heel.
Cav for his part, has gone to great pains to win over the Italians, explaining his respect for the sport, for Italian cycling and the Giro d'Italia, and the way in which he wants to honour the Rainbow stripes, by being on the front, winning races and doing his best. Sadly his delivery of his motivations is less than stellar, and I don't think that the Italian audience is appreciative of the effort he makes. He's not a public speaker, that is for sure, rather wanting his legs to do the talking. However there is a heartwrenching genuiness in what he says, that does not get translated..
So let's get back to yesterday's sprint stage, where Cav came off second best. First-off, Cav is fighting for the Red Jersey, so he had to go up the road and take the intermediate points stage, placed rather annoyingly on an incline.. Remember, it's for POINTS, not the SPRINT!!! That took a lot out of his legs. His Sky train had to work to chase the breakaway, with little help from others, and in the final kms had trouble keeping control of the front, almost getting pushed off the road by the Saxo train which beatifully gained a lead and then rather brutishly shutting the door, forcing the Sky riders into the gutter. Still, by 1km to go Sky, diminished now to 2 men, was in the front again, but shortly after Gerraint was left alone at the front way too far out, and couldn't keep the speed high enough or long enough, leaving Cav no choice but to go a lot earlier than he would normally like. Gardini, counseled by his DS Scinto, went a fraction earlier than Cav and managed to accelerate faster and with more punch, giving him a bike-length by the finish line. On the day Cav's legs weren't up to it (into week 3 of the Giro) and Gardini's slow crawl to the finish line yesterday meant that perhaps he measured his exertion better, and his younger body recouperated faster. He certainly didn't contend the intermediate points.. Also a sprinter's stage so far into the Giro is unusual, and this stage was far from slow.
Cav was beaten, but just on the day, and I wouldn't read much into this for the rest of the year. Certainly his power will wane in time to come. But in classic sprint finishes, with a proper sprint train, 9 times out of 10 he will come up trumps. He's here to win the red jersey, a nice addition to his Green ones from the Tour. I for one hope he does. The Giro owes him! And if he manages to keep it, he will have shown the route designers that even their best attempt at derailling him were for naught, because the World Champion sprinter has come out tops in the end. 3 stage wins, vs his target of 5?! Well, you can't have everything in life, and as you now know Cav, the Giro is tough, as any Tour, probably more so. But still, it will be a wonderful achievement. And he's gone against the grain of Spinter's pulling out when the mountains come, contesting the GIRO, and not just stage wins. Good on ya Cav. You're a winner in my books
The great Eddy Merckx, showing pain but still a champion
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