Cav said something about losing a sprint to Kristoff while Cav was in the leader's jersey. He lost by not too much and commented that maybe wearing a skinsuit would have made a difference.
I really like his Cervelo. I guess seeing him on it is different because he's closer to my size. Seeing tall CSC guys on them, not as impressive, plus they generally ran shorter wheels.
I watched Stage 1 of Qatar, I think that's the one Cav won. It was impressive, all the aero road bikes, the tall wheels. Cav must have been running ENVE 8.9s or something, his rear wheel was enormous. I think "short" wheels in that stage would have been a 50-60mm wheel, and there were some obviously huge wheels. The aero bikes, no cables showing, sleek profile from the front... I think aero road frames/bikes are going to be standard. As you said, I don't know why people aren't using them more.
I've been super fascinated with aero road frames since I started racing. I think I still have a 1984 Miyata catalog with their aero road bike, Dura Ace AX and aero tubed frame, with "aero" Araya ADX-4 rims. Probably 6 or 7 years ago, when Felt came out with their aero road bike, and Stevens and Blue and one or two others had them, I was convinced that in a year or two everyone would be on them. I guess the learning curve (and the traditionalist road racing community) slowed that change, but it's definitely happening.
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"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson