Cavendish shows up to a local hometown race

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by fourflys

to me, this is a similar argument people make when talking about the "best QB".. is it Montana, is it Peyton, Bradshaw, is it that guy from New England? well, it depends on what you look at and how you take into account the environment they played in..

Merckx rode in a time where folks didn't appear to specialize as much.. were there folks who only trained for the polka dots or green jersey in Merckx's time? the current generation in World Tour racing is highly specialized it seems (at least for the stars).. I can't imagine we'll ever see another rider come close to winning all of the jerseys again as riders like Tadaj or Jonas don't train to be able to match Mads Pedersen in a sprint and would never get the chance to go off and hunt mountain tops to gain enough points most years (they do come close at times though).. the white jersey for sure as that's just a coincidence if it happens most of the time..

I guess what I'm saying is if Cav gets the record, I think it would be awesome and a sign of that record coming into modern times..

Yeah.... and by the way, it's Bradshaw! Steelers forever!!!

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by benb

Reading a book about Merckx right now and it would somehow seem wrong I guess if Cavendish ends up with the stage win record without ever coming anywhere near close to contesting the GC.

All records are broken eventually though.

At least he has a giant pile of green jerseys.

I kind of had the opposite view. The top of the list of all time stage winners is all GC winners from bygone eras... and Cavendish. The next most wins by any rider in that time period is Marcel Kittel whose career came and went all within a period when Cavendish was still accumulating wins.

[benb]

Cavendish has earned his place on top of the mountain for sure.

I guess I just feel like Merckx deserves to not be dethroned. I don't care at all that he was a long time ago.

Though it doesn't matter when you zoom out, no one has gotten anywhere near him in the overall picture.

[ridethecliche]

I don't think Merckx is in any danger of losing his legacy or being forgotten.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by benb

Cavendish has earned his place on top of the mountain for sure.

I guess I just feel like Merckx deserves to not be dethroned. I don't care at all that he was a long time ago.

Though it doesn't matter when you zoom out, no one has gotten anywhere near him in the overall picture.

Merckx won't be dethroned. Babe Ruth wasn't dethroned when Hank Aaron hit 715. The cycling history books have plenty of room for both Merckx and Cav. We need to appreciate both of them for their achievements during the eras in which they raced.

Greg

[saab2000]

Nobody is seriously comparing Eddy Merckx to Mark Cavendish. Mark Cavendish isn’t doing that either. He’s just chasing a stage win record. I have no opinion other than that I hope he’s competitive. If he gets it, great. If not, I hope he will have had a shot. His crashing out last year was quite unfortunate.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by benb

Cavendish has earned his place on top of the mountain for sure.

I guess I just feel like Merckx deserves to not be dethroned. I don't care at all that he was a long time ago.

Though it doesn't matter when you zoom out, no one has gotten anywhere near him in the overall picture.

IMO he doesn’t deserve anything. It’s a record and records are meant to be broken.

[zmalwo]

Racing in an amateur race and still can't win. Is Cav this washed up?