Fo exactly this reason, I wouldn't be surprised if he joins Garmin-Cervelo

It depends exactly where his priorities lie.

Does he want to be the all conquering hero of the Tour de France or does he want to win the Olympics next year and become a British hero. Sir Cav please stand up.

If it is the latter then it has to be Team Sky. If it is the former then it could be Sky but I'm not so sure. Definately not Garmin. There is after all no 'I' in team. It has to be a team with serious wedge like Sky or Green Edge.

Cav this year could win the Worlds along with his five stage wins in the Tdf, 2 in the Giro and a likely green jersey and multi stages in the Vuelta. If he's lucky this will get him a 3 minute slot at the SPOTY in December. Meanwhile....the BBC will give a ten minute homage to F1 and go over the top on Darren Clarke winning the Open.

However......if he was to win the Olympic road race this would give cycling a massive boost in the UK. Especially if he did it while wearing the World Champion rainbow stripes.

It makes sense for the future of cycling in this country to have the highest profile rider in a British team. I don't think there is another team out there who is right for him just now.

There's no way on gods green earth that Wiggins is gonna do lead out for Cav. You can't be a lead out rider and a GC contender. Same goes for Thomas. If he's the future GC contender and a much needed lieutenant for Wiggo in the mountains you can't waste his energy helping cav. It would also mean a big re think about EBH who has shown that he is now ready to push on after a year of injury worries.
The problem you have if Sky take on Cav is that you need a full team to push from 1KM to the end. Chaps like Danny Pate do lots of unseen work maintaining the pressure by keeping the speed high throughout the day. Sky may not actually be the best place for Cav to go to.

Fair play to ITV4. Were kicking off in Benidorm. www.touchline.tv/cycling/itv4-to-screen-2011-tour-of spain

Fair play to ITV4. Were kicking off in Benidorm. www.touchline.tv/cycling/itv4-to-screen-2011-tour-of spain

Renshaw has gone to rabobank!

Well that's the end of a beautiful partnership. He wants to have a go at winning a few races himself. I cant say I can blame him. He has been awesome for HTC and deserves his chance to win for himself.

So no one watching the Vuelta then?

not since i realised the commentators on itv4's coverage are not a patch on those for le tour (and Cav withdrew)

Same here. Struggling to watch it with those commentators.

In the middle of moving house so temporarily lost Eurosport.Tried watching the highlights but the guy commentating makes me want to self harm.

But then again I've always struggled to get 'back up' for the Vuelta.

I try to pace myself through the cycling season but come the end of le tour i'm afraid I'm all 'peleton'd' out.

I'd definately be taking more of an interest if I had access to Eurosport though. I like Matt & Ned and thoroughly recommend you listen to the Real Peleton podcasts they do. But who the chuff is the Aussie guy calling the action?