Well! Well done team GB for an absolutely awesome race. Each guy rode out of his skin to get Cav in the position to attack for the win. Cav may have the rainbow jersey, but it was their unselfish display of effort and determination which won the day. Not a single team helped them throughout the day. They and only they can take the glory for the win.

And so the tail continues on the will he won't he front. Apparently he is very close to signing for Omega pharma! Which is interesting seems as though Greipel left HTC to get out of Cav's shadow and may now be back under it!
It would seem that there are some "paperwork" issues which are getting in the way of Cav signing for Sky. From looking on the forums the discussion is the possibility of Specialized not being willing to let Cav and his high profile go missing from their rider roster. And as Sky are stuck in a Pinarello contract it may be causing problems.

Just One race lef as well in the fantasy cycling team game. It's been a good season and I may even just sneak a win to gain the rlfans title lol.

It'd be good if we could get a few names on it for next year. It makes the race season much more entertaining. you should all come and try it with us.

fungus - don't you think its a bit odd that riders have to ride a certain brand of bike in races - i understand its probably necessary for the sponsorship money and team funding et al, but as a rider myself i would always want to pick and choose my race bike myself - is is after all an true extension of the rider, much so than for example a formula one car's relationship with its driver

there again i'm not a cycling racer, just a normal rider. is there much difference between the brands of bikes at the 'top end' of racing?

From what I know of it. The bike manufacturers pay the teams for them to use their bike. So the best teams get paid to ride the best bikes. We must be talking millions (maybe!!) in terms of money that Specialized will pay to the now defunct HTC to use their bikes etc.... With that much money involved If spesh say to a team we want X rider than I presume the pressure is huge to ensure that X rider rides for that team that year.

I do know that last year when Scott were HTC's bike supplier they put Cav on a new machine that was supposed to make him even better ( think it was the foil) after a few high profile races it became apparent that Cav and the Foil weren't the winning match made in heaven they thought it would be and he went back to his Scott Addict. Riders will also use different bikes from their manufacturer for different races such as The Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix. Where it's not uncommon to see teams racing with aluminium frames or even cross bikes! But even then they will be the same manufacturer.

One thing you will find though during those 2 races is that a great number of the teams will use Ambrosia wheels ( an Italian wheel manufacturer known for building strong quality hoops) And cover up the ambrosia name and put their own wheel manufacturers name on them instead. Apparently this thing happened much more years ago even as far as bikes being labelled up as a different make so the rider got to ride the bike they wanted to!

I reckon that top end bikes are so similar nowadays that unless you need an especially stiff bike for sprinting etc... the difference in performance is negligible. Obviously that's my own uniformed opinion with no actual evidence to back it up with.

Glad the Cav circus is now settled.

cheers for that, very interesting. i take it cav will have to ride pinarello from now on

had a look around and found this article about cav and a potential new bike. wonder if he dosn't like it whether pinarello will put together a brand new machine?

had a look around and found this article about cav and a potential new bike. wonder if he dosn't like it whether pinarello will put together a brand new machine?

For 1 year at least as Sky signed a 3 year deal. The whole Specialised thing was a bit of a mountain out of a molehill IMO, didn't HTC ride Scott bikes until this year?

It's technically Cycling this. Pair of ex-cricketers involved in a big charity bike ride An RLFans member will also be joining them for a couple of legs.

It's technically Cycling this. Pair of ex-cricketers involved in a big charity bike ride An RLFans member will also be joining them for a couple of legs.

interesting news on the route for le tour next year. not so many mountains and double the mileage for time trials from last time, could be wiggins best chance of glory. only trouble is contador and evans will like this too. six or seven stages look good for Cav to rack up some more stage wins

Yep it's definitely a Wiggins friendly route but then as you say it's also Contador and Evans friendly too. Not to mention Tony Martin! I presume Evans and Contador will have a support role to play in the olympics ( if any role) whilst the TT is a going concern for Wiggo and Martin.
It may also help Sky in it's multi role off helping Cav get green and Wiggo on the podium. Less support needed on the hills. Though it's interesting that they won't have G to help out, as he is solely aiming at the olympics next year.
Even though it's not been mentioned I'm pretty sure he'll be aiming for some classics glory at Flanders or Paris Roubaix. Can't wait for that! The classics are with out doubt the highlight of the season. The racing is simply spectacular.